The scandal of painting prostitutes had worn off by the time Manet made this painting. He had already painted two prostitutes before (Olympia and Nana) and there isn’t much to cause a scandal in the first place. This leaves us with bland descriptions like “it’s blue”, “he used broad brushstrokes” and “it is more private than the others as she has turned her back to us and we can’t see her reflection”.
Even the Guggenheim – where you can see it – spends more words on Manet and his other works in the description than on the painting itself.
Art in detail