Irma Brunner
circa 1880
Meet Irma Brunner, a popular café-concert singer in Paris whom Manet captured in this striking profile portrait around 1880. Notice how her massive, dark hat almost swallows her head, creating a dramatic contrast with her pale, porcelain skin and bold red lips. Manet uses loose, almost unfinished brushstrokes for her pink dress and the grey background, giving the piece a spontaneous, modern feel. Though she looks like high society here, Irma was actually a working-class entertainer who later married into nobility, becoming the Vicomtesse de Trédern!
Location: Musée d'Orsay, Paris
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