National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: The Railway

Overview

The Gare Saint–Lazare, in 1873 the largest and busiest train station in Paris, is unseen in this painting. Advances in industrial technology and train travel, intrinsic to most contemporary depictions of the site, remain in Manet's painting the almost invisible background for a genre depiction of a woman and child. Confined to a narrow space backed by the black bars of an iron fence and isolated by clouds of steam sent up from a train passing below, Manet's two models are enigmatic presences. The woman is Victorine Meurent, Manet's favorite model in the 1860s, and the child was the daughter of a fellow painter who allowed Manet to use his garden to create The Railway. The composition is a complex contrapuntal apposition of the two figures: one clad in a white dress trimmed with a blue bow and the other dressed in dark blue trimmed with white; one with hair bound by a narrow black ribbon and the other with flowing tresses under a black hat; and one a child standing and looking at anonymous trains and buildings in the background and the other a seated adult staring forward to confront viewers directly.

Manet submitted four works to the Paris Salon of 1874. Of the four, only two were accepted, The Railway and a watercolor. Reviewers were critical of the unfinished appearance of The Railway and that the rail station itself was not well–defined in the picture. Although Manet never chose to associate himself officially with the impressionist group, this painting’s scene of modern life, as well as its loose, abstract effects, show the influence of the younger artists on his work.

Inscription

lower right: Manet / 1873

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

From the artist to Jean-Baptiste Faure [1830-1914], Paris; sold c. 1881 to (Durand-Ruel et Cie, Paris and New York); sold 1898 to Henry Osborne Havemeyer [1847-1907] and his wife, née Louisine Waldron Elder [1865-1929], New York; by inheritance to their son, Horace Havemeyer [1886-1956], New York; bequest 1956 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1874
Salon of 1874, Paris, no. 1260.
1884
Exposition des Oeuvres de Edouard Manet, Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1884, no. 68, as Le chemin de fer.
1895
Exposition of Paintings by Edouard Manet, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1895, no. 25.
1913
Loan Exhibition: paintings by Edouard Manet, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 26 November - 13 December 1913, no. 12 as Gare St. Lazare.
1933
A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no. 333, repro.
1935
Independent Painters of Nineteenth Century Paris, Museum of Fine Arts, Paris, 1935, no. 29, repro.
1936
A Survey of French Painting, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1936, no. 6, repro.
1936
The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936, no. 288, repro.
1938
The Precursors of Modern Art, Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, 1938, no. 16, repro.
1940
An Exhibition of Great Paintings in Aid of the Canadian Red Cross and of Small Pictures by Members of the Ontario Society of Artists, Art Gallery of Toronto, 1940, no. 95.
1940
Exhibition of Paintings for the Benefit of The American Friends of France: The Four Great Impressionists: Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Manet, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1940, no. 15, repro.
1940
Masterpieces of Art. European & American Paintings 1500-1900, New York World's Fair, May-October 1940, no. 280, repro.
1951
Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1951, no. 67, repro.
1982
Manet and Modern Paris, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 10, repro.
1983
Manet, Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1983, no. 133, repro.
1986
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 14, repro.
1991
Loan for display with permanent collection, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, 1991.
1993
Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, no. 356, pl. 29.
1994
Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 78, repro., as Le Chemin de fer.
1998
Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 21, fig. 1.
2008
The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2008-2009, no. 57, repro.
2010
Bilder einer Metropole: Die Impressionisten in Paris [Images of a Capital - The Impressionists in Paris], Museum Folkwang, Essen, 2010-2011, no. 44, repro.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 27, repro.

Bibliography

1874
Journal Amusant no. 927 (6 June 1874):
1874
L'Illustration 63 (23 May 1874): 341
1876
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1883
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1884
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1910
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1913
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1923
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1926
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1927
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1930
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1932
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1947
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1948
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1949
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1954
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1954
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1955
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1955
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1956
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1957
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1959
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1959
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1961
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1962
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1963
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1965
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1966
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1966
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1966
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1966
Michener, James A. “Four Miracles—And A Masterpiece.” Reader’s Digest 89 (November 1966): 160, repro.
1968
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1968
European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations (Companion to the Summary Catalogue, 1965). Washington, 1968: 71, no. 1454, repro.
1968
Liebman, Kurt. Edouard Manet. Dresden, 1968: 67, repro.
1968
Schneider, Pierre. The World of Manet, 1832-1883. New York, 1968: 132-133, 136, 140, repro.
1969
Jaffé, Ludwig G. The World of Impressionism. Maplewood, N.J., 1969: 39, repro.
1970
Oriente, Sandra. The Complete Paintings of Manet. London, 1970: no. 180, repro.
1971
Nochlin, Linda. Realism. Baltimore, 1971: 162, 264, repro.
1972
Bazin, Germain. Edouard Manet. Milan, 1972: 9, 42
1972
Hanson, Anne Coffin. "Popular Imagery and the Work of Edouard Manet" in French Nineteenth Century Paintings and Literature, Ulrich Finke, ed. New York, 1972:135-138
1973
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1973: 326-7, 482, repro.
1974
Callen, Anthea. "Faure and Manet." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 83 (March 1974): 157-178.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 210, repro.
1975
Lipton, Eunice. "Manet: A Radicalized Female Imagery." Artforum XIII, no. 1 (March 1975):20, 52, repro.
1975
Mauner, George. Manet: Peintre-Philosophe. University Park and London, 1975: 159
1975
Rouart, Denis and Daniel Wildenstein. Edouard Manet: catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. Lausanne, Paris, 1975: I: no. 207, repro.
1975
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1976
Bellony-Rewald, Alice. The Lost World of the Impressionists. London, 1976:188, 191, 193, repro.
1976
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1976
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1977
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1978
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1979
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1979
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1980
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1981
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1982
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1982
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1983
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1984
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1985
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1986
Gay, Peter. Art and Act: On Causes in History - Manet, Gropius, Mondrian. New York, 1986:104-110, repro.
1986
The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Exh. cat. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; National Gallery of Art, Washington. San Francisco, 1986: 20-21, repro.
1986
Weitzenhoffer, Frances. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986:102, 129, 212, repro.
1987
Rand, Harry. Manet's Contemplation at the Gare Saint-Lazare. Berkeley, 1987:11
1987
Rand, Harry. "To the Gare Saint-Lazare." Arts 61, no. 5 (January 1987): 52 ff., repro.
1988
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1988
Reff, Theodore. "Manet and the Paris of His Time," in Kunst um 1800 und die Folgen: Werner Hofmann zu Ehren. Munich, 1988: 247+, repro.
1989
Distel, Anne. Les collectionneurs des impressionnistes. Amateurs et marchands. Paris, 1989:81, repro.
1991
Bareau, Juliet Wilson, ed. Manet by Himself: Paintings, Pastels, Prints & Drawings. London, 1991: repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. and Elizabeth P. Streicher. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1991:10.
1991
Cranshaw, Roger and Adrian Lewis. "Manet's 'Le Chemin de Fer; (1872-3): Producing the Art Historical Text." Issues (Journal of the Faculties of Architecture, Art and Design at Polytechnic of East London):2 (Winter 1991-1992):78+, repro.
1991
Darragon, Eric. Manet. Paris, 1991: 244-246, repro.
1992
Carr-Gomm, Sarah. Manet. London, 1992: 100, repro.
1992
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1992
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1992
Stevenson, Lesley. Manet. New York, 1992: 155, repro.
1992
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1993
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1993
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1993
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1994
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1994
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1994
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1994
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1995
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1995
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1996
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1996
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1996
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1997
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1997
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1998
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1998
Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare. Exh. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: no. 21.
1998
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1998
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1998
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1999
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1999
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1999
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1999
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2000
Duve, Thierry de. Voici, 100 ans d'art contemporain. Exh. cat., Palais des beaux-arts, Brussels, 2000: 131+, repro.
2000
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2000
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2000
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2001
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2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 361-362, no. 297, color repro.
2006
Søndergaard, Sidsel Maria. Women in Impressionism: From Mythical Feminine to Modern Woman. Exh. cat. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Milan, 2006: 163 fig. 127.
2011
Bell, Julian. "Manet: Sudden Sensuous Dazzle." Review of Manet: Inventeur du Moderne. Exh. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2011. New York Review of Books 58, no. 12 (July 14, 2011): 19.
2012
Jack, Belinda. The Woman Reader. New Haven, 2012: 251, fig. 50.
2012
Rosenberg, Karen. "The Week Ahead: Art." New York Times 162, no. 55,924 (October 14, 2012): AR-4, color repro.
2013
Bell, Julian. "At the Royal Academy." London Review of Books 35, no. 4 (21 February 2013): 28.
2013
Khan, Sarah. “Madame, Sie dürfen mich Eddy nennen.” Weltkunst 69 (February 2013): 62-63, color fig.
2013
Prodger, Michael. “Blank Faces.” Apollo 177, no. 607 (March 2013): 174, color repro.
2013
The Editors. "Vorschau: Manet's Gesichter." Weltkunst 68 (Januar 2013): 113, color repro.

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