Study for "Interior at Arcachon" 1871

Editor: This is Edouard Manet's "Study for 'Interior at Arcachon,'" a watercolor work held at the Harvard Art Museums. It has a muted, domestic feeling. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: The scene offers a glimpse into bourgeois life, but beyond the surface, consider the politics of leisure. Who had access to these coastal retreats, and whose labor sustained them? Manet presents a seemingly neutral scene. Editor: So you see it as speaking to class structures of the time? Curator: Precisely. The painting invites us to consider the unseen labor and power dynamics underpinning this tranquil moment. Who isn't in the frame? Editor: That gives me a lot to consider. Curator: Indeed. Art becomes a powerful tool when we question whose stories are being told—and whose are being erased.