Masterpiece given 'woke warning' because of 'unsettling' presence of a man

12 April 2022, 11:06 | Updated: 12 April 2022, 11:24

A masterpiece a woman in a bar housed at the Courtauld Gallery has been slapped with a "woke warning" over the "unsettling" presence of a man in the background.

The London Gallery has added a label to Édouard Manet's oil painting, titled A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, warning that the barmaid "appears as just another item in the enticing array on offer in the foreground".

The 1882 masterpiece was relabelled during a £57million refurbishment at the Courtauld Gallery, known for its collection of Impressionist pieces.

The masterpiece depicts barmaid Suzon, who worked in the Folies-Bergère, and the opulent scene of wine, champagne, peppermint liqueur and British Bass beer, with its iconic red triangle logo, reflected from a gold-gilded mirror behind her.

The gallery has come under fire for the new label which describes the barmaid's "enigmatic expression" as "unsettling... especially as she appears to be interacting with a male customer."

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Historian Ruth Millington told the Telegraph the label "unwittingly centres the male gaze" by encouraging viewers to look at the man the painting, branding it a "woke attempt to call out misogyny".

Ms Millington, added: 'In a painting of multiple gazes, it's unfair and misogynistic to emphasise the male perspective. 'I'd rather read a fresh new label which invites viewers to imagine what the woman is thinking.'

Historians have previously suggested the painting suggests the barmaid's availability to male customers as the Folies-Bergère bar was known for its prostitutes.

The piece was Manet's last before his death and was completed a year before he died.

At least one other masterpiece housed at the Courtauld Gallery, Paul Gauguin's 1897 work Nevermore, has been relabelled with a warning the piece depicts "a widespread racist fantasy".

The caption says the painting shows "one of several teenagers that [Gauguin] took on as 'wives'" and warns it depicts the "racist fantasy of Tahitian girls as sexually precocious led to their unabashed exploitation".

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