Topic > Analysis of a Bar in the Folies-Bergeres - 1929

To compare I have chosen a painting entitled A Bar in the Folies-Bergeres by Edouard Manet and the Sir John Soane Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields. A bar in the Folies-Bergère shows a scene from Parisian life at the time: a young barmaid is positioned behind the counter of a crowded nightclub. The place, its guests, the bartender, the male customer, the chandeliers, the bottles of alcohol, the flowers and oranges present in the space are reflected in the mirror behind the counter. Although relatively inconspicuous at first glance, the divergences between the position and appearance of real objects in the "real" bar space and their reflections are largely seen as ambiguous. Manet uses the mirror as a tool to play with perspective in the painting, points of view and the positioning of people within it. Sir John Soane's Museum can also be seen as a work of art, reconstructed over the course of his thirty years of living there, to create a suitable space for the architect to play with perception, points of view, the light and atmosphere of his home and amaze his guests, with the unique positioning and construction of the rooms and their interiors. Soane demolished and rebuilt three houses in succession on the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields. It began with issue 12 (between 1792 and 1794). In 1806 Soane purchased the house next door at number 13, now a museum, and rebuilt it in two phases in 1808–09 and 1812. In 1823 he purchased a third house, number 14, which he rebuilt in 1823–24. This project allowed him to build an art gallery, connected to number 13. He established his house as a public museum according to an Act of Parliament of 1833, which stated that the three buildings which formed part of it were to be maintained... ... in the center of paper ......the 'real' objects. In comparison, the museum serves as a snapshot reminder of what has been a never-ending change. This change was not the result of an expansion but was rather a continuous reformulation of Soane's perception of the world, which resulted in a continuous change in the positioning of spaces within the house. The peculiar organization of spaces and its objects is an imitation or rather a mirror of Soane's mind, which was not neatly organized and cataloged but infinitely intricate. The house and his mind were filled with endless paths and labyrinthine points of view stretching everywhere, acting in conglomerate ways. The use of perspective and the play with points of view in both works in relation to the division between social classes, makes us understand as spectators the complexity of a human mind, its thoughts and the perception of spaces and people that surround..