EDOUARD MANET: THE HOUSE AT RUEIL reimagined

I was attracted to paint a copy of this Manet artwork by the sunlit yellow front of the villa which, when the painting is viewed in person, is far more vibrant and alive that the photograph above. In fact, I felt as though the sun was actually behind me when I first viewed the artwork. During the copying I felt that it needed a human presence. For this reason I added the well-dressed woman on the white garden seat to the left

Édouard Manet’s The House at Rueil (1882) is an Impressionist painting depicting the sunlit facade of a countryside villa in France. It captures the front of the house where the terminally ill artist spent his final months. Two near-identical versions exist: a portrait format (in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) and a landscape format.

The Subject and Composition

• The Setting: In the summer of 1882, Manet was hosted at a countryside villa in Rueil, just outside Paris, by the writer Eugène Labiche.
• Details of the Facade: The paintings portray the light-yellow French cottage walls and light-blue window shutters.
• The Foreground: Manet painted the view from his seat on a nearly white gravel path. A prominent tree in the foreground obscures the porticoed front door, a compositional choice that grounds the nature-meets-civilization scene.

Alternatively, if you reside in Victoria Australia, we can make arrangements for you to visit my studio in Williamstown to view and to purchase the artwork.