NARRATOR:
French artist Édouard Manet made this painting in 1862, when Paris was in the midst of extraordinary upheaval. As part of an ambitious urban renewal, those on the margins of society - people like those we see here - were driven out of the city center to accommodate the rebuilding program. Here’s Mary Morton, Curator of French paintings: 

MARY MORTON:
It is epically scaled. So this was a major public statement that he's putting together here. And, I would argue, a political and a social statement. He's just basically saying, particularly with that old musician at the center looking directly out at the visitor, “what about us?”  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
I think by the mere fact that Manet chose to paint these people, he is calling importance to them and expressing their humanity and their right to live with dignity and respect.  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
My name is Jesse Rabinowitz and I live and work in Washington, D.C.  I'm the Senior Manager for Advocacy and Policy at Miriam’s Kitchen, where we work to end chronic homelessness in D.C.  

JESSE RABINOWITZ:
In this picture, I see a lot of loneliness and longing for connection, especially in the musician’s face, but also in the boys’ faces. And when I speak with folks who live outside in D.C., I commonly hear how isolating and lonely they feel, few people, if anybody, stops to say “hi”, to check in, to acknowledge them as human beings. I think Manet is reminding us of our collective responsibility towards all of our neighbors and is forcing us to look people who we might otherwise choose not to look at directly in the eye, directly in the face.