The Annex of the Café de Bade: Édouard Manet's Studio
- Art d'Histoire
- Jan 28
- 3 min read
In the mythology of the 19th-century artist, the studio is often portrayed as a sanctuary—a place of silence, the smell of turpentine, and solitary struggle. However, at least for Édouard Manet, the studio on the rue d'Amsterdam was something entirely different. It was an unusual intersection of art and society, a place where the noise of the boulevard was not shut out, but invited in.
The Invalid Flâneur
By the end of his life, Manet faced a cruel irony. He was the quintessential Parisian "flâneur" (stroller) and modern painter, yet his body was failing him. Suffering from a debilitating condition in his leg, caused by long-standing syphilis, that prevented him from enjoying his daily strolls, he could no longer roam the streets of Paris with the freedom he once enjoyed.
But Manet was not one to accept isolation. If he could not go to the crowd, the crowd would come to him. As the writer Jacques-Émile Blanche remarked , Manet was a creature of the city; he "would have painted on the Place de la Concorde, in the middle of a crowd, as he did among his friends in the studio". Instead of retreating, he turned his workspace overlooking a courtyard into a bustling social hub.
A Study in Contrasts: Manet vs. Degas
The atmosphere at rue d'Amsterdam could not have been more different from that of his peers. Edgar Degas, for instance, treated his studio like a fortress. He was known to lock himself with double bolts, hiding his unfinished works or those in progress from prying eyes. For Degas, painting was a private, almost secretive intellectual exercise, far from the public practice of plein air.
Manet, conversely, thrived on exposure. He painted in the company of friends, admiring painters, and models. Even complex works like The Bar at the Folies-Bergère were executed amidst the chatter and judgment of his circle. He did not need silence to see; he needed life.
Beer on the Iron Table
By five o'clock in the afternoon, the studio ceased to be a place of work and transformed into what Madame Édouard Manet, who notably never appeared there herself —called "an annex of the Café de Bade". The room was often so crowded that "you could barely find a seat next to the artist".
The furniture itself spoke of this dual function. In the center stood an iron pedestal table, a prop that appears frequently in Manet’s paintings. This wasn't just a still-life object; it was a functional piece of café furniture where a waiter would serve beer and aperitifs to the guests.
The crowd was a cross-section of the Demi-Monde and the cultural elite. Regulars who would usually meet at the café came up from the boulevard to keep their comrade company. Critics, friends, and painters like Gaston La Touche would gather there to gossip, drink, and watch Manet work. It was in this environment—noisy, smoke-filled, and thoroughly modern—that Manet captured the essence of his time.
This blog is based on the anthologies of primary sources edited by Art d'Histoire Academy.
Find the complete academic references in:
You can also access the Art d'Histoire channel and its traditional videos:
We believe in making academic art history accessible and reliable for all.
The Art d’Histoire Academy platform specialises in primary sources and digitised archives, covering French art history from 1850 to 1910.
It offers clear, structured, interactive videos, as well as a library of over a thousand articles that explain and contextualise primary sources.
Whether you are preparing for an exam, exhibition or publication, the Art d’Histoire Academy will support you.
