Edouard Manet represented his elderly friend, the painter Joseph Gall, absorbed in reading a large book. The ledge in the foreground serves as a barrier, establishing distance between the sitter and the viewer. The
artist’s palette is muted and restrained. Although Manet never participated in any of the Impressionist exhibitions, he was closely associated with the group; his lively, inventive brushwork is evident in
the sitter’s left hand, depicted with a few rapid and abstract brush marks.
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