At the Père Lathuille Restaurant (1879)

by Édouard Manet (1832-1883)

”Above all keep your colors fresh!”, is what the French painter Édouard Manet used to teach his students. And indeed, in this painting, a romantic scene set at the restaurant “Père Lathuille”, the colors practically burst off the canvas.

The man seated in the foreground is the son of the proprietor, M. Gauthier-Lathuille. We can actually see his father in the background, watching the scene with a gentle smile on his face. Later, the son would take over the business and turn it into a café that offered musical performances.

Fun fact: Gauthier Lathuille is actually depicted wearing Manet’s own jacket. He was originally supposed to wear a military uniform, but Manet didn’t like how it looked. And so he gave the young man his own jacket, made of yellow tussar silk, a very fine material. It lends the painting a creamy yellow glow, standing out against the yellow clay gravel, the white table-cloth and the many blossoms. It’s a stroke of genius, and makes me love this painting even more.

It’s one of those paintings I feel like I could just look at forever. It gives me so much joy, and I hope it will brighten your day as well.

Julian

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