Chez Tortoni

Édouard Manet's Chez Tortoni' is One of Modern Art´s Greatest Missing Treasures. Thieves stole the painting from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990, along with several other notable paintings. The thieves were brutal, cutting highly valued master works from their frames. This masterpiece has yet to be found. Chez Tortoni captures a fleeting, random moment, that is perhaps a somewhat cynical vision of modernity. The Parisian man is wearing a top hat sitting at a café table with a detached look on his face. The overall feel of the oil painting is cool and distinguished. There is something elusive and so intriguing and captivating about this moment. Manet frequently painted cafe scenes, eager to depict the “modern” lives of the bourgeoisie, the bohemian, and the working-class people of nineteenth century France.