Édouard Manet, Jeanne Demarsy, and the Art of Parisian Chic

Art historian Justine De Young examines Édouard Manet’s Jeanne (Spring) and the life of its model, Jeanne Demarsy. Once a circus performer and actress, Demarsy became a prominent figure in Paris’s demimonde, using fashion, beauty, and a carefully shaped public image to navigate the opportunities and limits faced by women in Belle Époque Paris.The talk draws on newly discovered photographs, illustrations, and a lingerie bill to reconsider the woman behind Manet’s portrait and the broader relationship between modern art, fashion, and identity. An in-person book signing with De Young follows the program.