Portrait of madame Julles Guillemet 1878

This is Edouard Manet’s portrait of Madame Jules Guillemet, created in France sometime in the 1880s. Executed in charcoal, it captures the sitter in profile, adorned in a striped bonnet and matching collar. The sketch gives us insight into the world of Parisian Salon society. Manet’s impressionistic style broke from academic tradition, favouring a quick and more informal approach. This approach mirrors the changing social landscape of late 19th-century France, as rigid class structures were being challenged. Portraits like this were often commissioned by the upper classes to project their status and taste. Yet, Manet's loose style hints at a shifting dynamic, a move away from the formal portraiture of previous eras. To understand this sketch better, one might research the Guillemet family's social standing and Manet's relationship with his patrons. Art history benefits from an understanding of social context; after all, art always reflects and responds to its own time.