The painting “Gypsy with a Cigarette” is an artwork by Edouard Manet, dating back to approximately 1862 and located in Paris, France. This oil on canvas work measures 92 x 73 cm and is currently held at the Princeton University Art Museum in Princeton, NJ, USA. It is a genre painting exemplifying the Realism movement, which aimed to depict subjects truthfully and without artificiality.
In the painting, we see a woman, presumed to be a gypsy based on the title, sitting with a confident and relaxed posture. Her left elbow rests on a surface that’s out of view, and her arm bends so that her hand can support her head. She holds a cigarette loosely between her lips, and her gaze is direct and engaging, almost challenging the viewer with her penetrating dark eyes. She wears a colorful blouse, with loosely hanging sleeves in warm tones of orange and yellow that contrasts her maroon skirt. The gentle creases and folds in her clothing suggest a sense of casual comfort. In the background, there seems to be a hint of a white horse or a similar figure, though this is somewhat obscured and less detailed, allowing the focus to remain on the woman’s expressive face and her striking pose. The quick, loose brushwork and the contrast of the woman’s dark hair and tanned skin against the lighter background are characteristic of Manet’s style and his contributions to Realism, as well as an early hint of the modernist approaches that would later evolve in art.
