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Audio Stop 220

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Against a hilly landscape and on a patch of dirt, five people wearing tattered clothing gather around a bearded man who holds a violin in his lap in this horizontal painting. Most of them have pale skin. Starting from the left is a barefoot young woman holding a blond baby to her chest. She faces our right, and her chestnut-brown hair hides her profile. She wears a black shirt over a calf-length skirt streaked with slate and aquamarine blue. To the right two young boys face us. The boy on the left of that pair wears a loose white shirt tucked into tan-colored pants and an upturned wide-brimmed hat. The boy next to him has short brown hair and is dressed in a black and brown vest and pants over a bone-white shirt. His right arm, to our left, is slung across the shoulders of the blond boy and he looks off to our right with dark, unfocused eyes. The man who holds the violin is to our right of center. He sits on a stone with his body facing our left, but he turns to look at us with dark eyes under heavy brows. He has tan skin, dark gray, curly hair, and a trimmed silvery gray beard. A wrinkle under one eye suggests he may smile slightly at us. He wears a loose brown cloak with a ragged bottom hem, teal-blue stockings, and black shoes. He holds a violin on his lap like a guitar. One hand fingers a chord on the neck of the violin, which comes toward us, and the other hand holds the bow and plucks a string. A sand-colored bag with a strap lies at his feet. Two men stand to our right of the musician. One wears a tall black top hat, a brown cloak, gray pants, and black shoes. His face is loosely and indistinctly painted but he has a beard. Finally, the sixth person is a man who stands along the right side of the painting and is cut off by that edge. He wears a turban, a black polka-dotted scarf, and a long black cloak or coat. One hand clutches the scarf and the other rests on a wooden cane by his side. His chin and long, light-colored beard tuck back against the scarf, and he looks off to our left with dark eyes. There are loosely painted olive and forest-green leaves in the upper left corner. The landscape beyond is painted with indistinct areas of muted green, blue, and brown. Bits of azure-blue sky peek through puffy white and gray clouds overhead. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “ed. Manet 1862.”

Edouard Manet

The Old Musician, 1862

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 89

El defensor de vivienda Jesse Rabinowitz de la organización sin fines de lucro Miriam’s Kitchen y la curadora y jefa de pintura francesa Mary Morton analizan la presencia de personas marginadas en el centro de la monumental pintura de Manet.

 

 

Transcripción de audio

NARRADOR:
El artista francés Édouard Manet hizo esta pintura en 1862, cuando París estaba en medio de una extraordinaria turbulencia. Como parte de una ambiciosa renovación urbana, se expulsó del centro de la ciudad a los marginados de la sociedad, entre ellos, las personas que vemos aquí, a fin de alojar el programa de reconstrucción. Habla Mary Morton, curadora de pintura francesa:

MARY MORTON:
Tiene capas épicas. Es una declaración pública importante que él reúne aquí. Diría que es una declaración política y social. Básicamente, dice, en particular con ese viejo músico en el centro que mira al visitante directo a los ojos: "¿Qué hay de nosotros?".  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
Creo que con el simple hecho de elegir pintar a estas personas, Manet les da importancia y expresa la humanidad de ellos y su derecho a vivir con dignidad y respeto.  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
Mi nombre es Jesse Rabinowitz y vivo y trabajo en Washington, D. C. Soy gerente principal de defensa y políticas en Miriam’s Kitchen, donde trabajamos para terminar con la falta de hogar crónica en la ciudad.  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
En este cuadro, veo mucha soledad y anhelo de crear vínculos, en especial en el rostro del músico, pero también en los rostros de los niños. Cuando hablo con gente que vive fuera de Washington D. C., es común que oiga lo aislados y solitarios que se sienten. Poca gente, o nadie, se detiene a saludar, a ponerse en contacto, a reconocerlos como seres humanos. Creo que Manet nos recuerda nuestra responsabilidad colectiva con nuestros vecinos y nos fuerza a mirar a las personas que, de otro modo, podríamos elegir no mirar directo a los ojos, directo al rostro.  
 

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