The Railway

We present today's artwork thanks to National Gallery of Art :)

The Railway offers no story, no clear relationship between its figures, no center of interest. Although the scene itself is composed, the subjects and scene look like a mixed accident. In the work, Manet used his favorite model Victorine Meurent, also the model for Olympia and the Luncheon on the Grass who sits before an iron fence holding in her lap a sleeping puppy and an open book. Next to her is a little girl with her back to the painter who watches a train pass, indicated only by the white smoke. Again, the painting seems to have no story, no relationship between the characters - a casual street scene.