When creating “Music in the Tuileries,” Manet appears to have used oil on canvas. This piece ofwork displays a tremendous amount of visual unity through the breaking of the trees, letting the sky in on the group of people on the ground. This break helps to “break” the painting up into two distinct parts, allowing the viewer the ability to appreciate the entire piece of art. Furthermore, this centralized break creates a symmetric balance. The tree trunk in the center (the gray one) was placed in the center where it catches the viewer’s attention. From this perspective, attention is drawn to the forefront of the painting, thereby giving definite suggestions as to the purpose of the painting.
On the far left side of the painting, the majority of the men portrayed are wearing top hats. These men also appear to be watching over the women. It is possible that this side is very quiet because there does not appear to be an abundance of interaction. This is seen because the lines are more definitive in individual people as compared to the far right side of the painting. In the middle and on the far right side of the painting, the individual people appear to blend, showing immense interaction and activity. When the lines are more definitive, the people appear to be separate, which implies that they are not close together. It is important to note that in the forefront of the painting, the clothes worn by the people (particularly the women and children) were larger and more decisive than those of other people towards the back. This effect was achieved by the use of scale and volume, which may have had the purpose of showing the importance of these people. It may have also been a technique to show draw the attention of the viewer to these people. Upon closer look, these people appear to be joyful. The most striking use of color was in the little girl at the forefront of the painting. The girl’s dress had