Bazille's Studio

Three years have passed since Bazille painted his Studio on the rue Visconti : The Studio in the rue La Condamine shows the extent to which the artist had freed himself from his anxieties and found fulfillment. The tradition was not new to represent himself in his own studio or to paint his friends in theirs. But what differences there are between, for example, Les Ménines by Velázquez, Fantin-Latour's Hommage à Delacroix and Bazille's Studio on the rue La Condamine. Our painter moved into his new studio in January 1869 and remained there until April 15, 1870. Here, the space and light prove the artist's evolution. The room is spacious and opens widely on the outside thanks to the immense bay window through which one sees Parisian buildings. The organization of the space here is very different from that of the earlier studios. Bazille has chosen to show us this one, no longer empty but animated. When we enter, we are first seduced by the height of the ceiling, by the perspective on the roofs of Paris, by the wooden staircase, the whole offering a pleasant volume. Bazille arranged few objects in this vast rectangular room. On the right, a stove, reddened like the one in The Artist's Studio in the rue de Furstenberg , is reminiscent of L'Atelier by Delacroix, whose attribution is now questioned. Against the right wall, a small round table with the flaps folded back; in the corner, a black piano that we see for the first time, a symbol of Bazille's passion for music and his friendship with Edmond Maître. Facing us, against the wall, a pink sofa is the most visible element of comfort in the painting. The spatial organization of the studio - that emptiness we've been talking about - highlights two preoccupations that concern Bazille. The first is to show himself in the midst of his friends, the second is to exhibit his paintings. Six people are painted here. Bazille, in front of the easel, gives explanations about the View of the Village and holds a palette in his left hand. The man facing him and listening is Manet. At the piano is Edmond Maître. The other three figures have been the subject of controversial identifications. But Poulain's version, whose source we do not know, is quite different. For him, Monet would be the artist to the left of Manet; on the staircase, we would recognize Zola talking to Renoir, sitting on the corner of the table. Dr. Maurice Leblond, Zola's son-in-law, confirmed that "this person is indeed that of the novelist". The latter painted all his friends in a convivial attitude. Bazille himself, covered in a large black smock, talked painting with Manet. "I have amused myself so far by painting the interior of my studio", he wrote on January 1, 1870, "and Manet makes me there myself." Manet is said to have said: "Your studio without you, it is not possible". The gesture is sympathetic and proves the cordiality of the relationship between the two men. On the walls of the studio and on the floor, we recognize several paintings. At the top left is the sketch of the Fisherman with a Net by Bazille; below it, a little girl with blond hair that brings to mind a Monet painting; on the floor, several paintings wit frames. Under the window, on the floor, The Fortune Teller . On the wall above the pink sofa : a landscape that has been identified with the The Ramparts at Aigues-Mortes from South ; the Renoir's Femme à l'oiseau and, below it, a still life by Monet. Finally, on the right wall, one can easily recognize The Terrace at Méric by Bazille, with the chestnut tree and the family home. Bazille thus arranged several of the paintings in his collection without forgetting those of Renoir and Monet. One will notice, however, the absence of works by Sisley and Manet, with whom Bazille was less connected. The contrast is great between the impressionist paintings with which he chose to adorn his walls and the representation of the studio itself, with the wisdom of its graphics and the classicism of its colors