“Like her, Manet is a marvel of ardor behind an understated exterior. As we continue to look more at the painting there is an alarming symbolic subtext. Notice the two women are cradling phallic shapes –– one with the fan the other a closed umbrella, both tilted upwards on a forty-five degree angle. Now the man holding the nub of lit cigarette takes another meaning. In visual art a cigar is never just a cigar. Who would have thought there was so much intrigue in the inner lives of these people.”
Michael Newberry, Idyllwild, 5/16/2020
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