Au Bal (At the Ball)
- Artist: Édouard Manet
- Date: c. 1877
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is “Au Bal (At the Ball)” by Édouard Manet. Created around 1877 as an oil on canvas, the work is a quick sketch that was sold with the contents of Manet’s studio after his death. The canvas is deliberately sparse; large swathes remain unpainted, yet with only a handful of delicate brushstrokes Manet conveys the slight turn of the woman’s body and the subtle outline of her dress. Behind her, the profile of a second figure—a male—peeks through, hinting at the social setting without fully rendering him.
The woman, identified as Marguerite de Conflans, came from a family close to Manet, and she posed for him on several occasions. Her pose and the way Manet captures her presence in such a fleeting gesture speak to the painter’s skill in suggestion over detail. The painting is a testament to Manet’s ability to condense mood and movement into a minimalist frame, offering viewers a glimpse of an elegant evening without the clutter of a fully realized scene.
See it in person
Au Bal (At the Ball) hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
