The Lunch 1787 - 1793

Editor: Here we have "The Lunch" by Louis Marin Bonnet, created between 1787 and 1793. It looks like a print, done with coloured pencils. It depicts a group of well-dressed people having a meal outdoors. It feels… staged, almost like a tableau. What strikes you most about this piece? Art Historian: That sense of staging is key. Think about the historical context. This image appears on the eve of the French Revolution. How do you read this depiction of leisure, of seemingly carefree indulgence, in light of the societal tensions brewing at the time? Editor: I never thought of it that way! It seemed like just a pretty scene, but now I see a contrast. People were starving, and this art shows the privileged class enjoying picnics in the countryside. Is the artist trying to say something about this contrast? Art Historian: It is likely. Bonnet and other Rococo artists were definitely participating in constructing a visual language that, consciously or not, revealed the power dynamics of the time. Note how the composition is carefully arranged, almost theatrical. Do you think that this “tableau” serves to naturalize, or perhaps critique, those power dynamics? Editor: I guess it both hides and reveals it, because there’s such a deliberate artificiality in this composition... Is it maybe even an attempt to show some real people enjoying lunch, in a more casual way, with their little dog, but inevitably filtering reality and recreating them to please the patron? Art Historian: Exactly! By highlighting the performative nature of leisure, it subtly reveals the inherent social divisions. But don't forget the revolutionary context! Think about how gender is portrayed here. How might these fashionable women be perceived differently than, say, images of women working in fields during this tumultuous time? Editor: Wow, I hadn’t thought about that at all. It’s a really valuable lens to understanding this artwork! Thanks for opening my eyes. Art Historian: My pleasure. Now we both learned a little something today!