The Reading
1865 Musée d'Orsay
About this artwork
This oil painting depicts the artist's wife, Suzanne Leenhoff, seated and looking directly at the viewer while a man, believed to be Léon Leenhoff, reads from a book nearby. It is a quintessential example of Manet's focus on contemporary bourgeois life and domestic intimacy.
Did you know?
This painting features Suzanne Leenhoff, whom Manet married in 1863, and the young Léon Leenhoff. The identity of the boy remained a subject of intense speculation among historians, with some suggesting he was actually the illegitimate son of Manet and Suzanne, born before their marriage. Manet famously treated his domestic scenes with a casual, almost photographic realism that often perplexed critics of the 19th century.
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The Reading
Édouard Manet, 1865
