"Bazille's Studio," Frédéric Bazille, 1870.
Bazille (1841-1870) died only a few months after he painted this lovely scene, after enlisting in the Franco-Prussian War. His existing work is precious.
This is a view of a studio he shared with Pierre-Auguste Renoir. While Bazille painted the scene, the figure in the center with the palette was painted by Edouard Manet to be Bazille himself. The man in the hat looking at the canvas on the easel is Manet, while the man at the piano is Edmond Maitre, a friend of Bazille's. The other three are unknown; it's thought that two of them could be Renoir and Monet, but it's impossible to tell. Alfred Sisley and Emile Zola might also be included.
Above Maitre's head is a still life by Monet, and a small landscape by Renoir is just to the right of the window. Other paintings are Bazille's, that had been rejected by the 1866 Paris Salon. So here Bazille is thumbing his nose at the stodgy Salon establishment...
Of course, now Impressionism itself can seem old-fashioned and stodgy...what happens to the anti-establishment crowd when they become the Establishment? Hard to say...but at least we have this charming and inventive painting to study.
From the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.