Sketching the Manet Exhibition at the RA

I went to see the exhibition Manet - Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts on Thursday.
I took advantage of the seats in the different rooms to stop and record the life within the exhibition in my pen and ink - and coloured pencil - sketches in my Moleskine sketchbook.

The Status Portraits Room
Manet - Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts
8" x 10", pen and sepia ink in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Manet's portraits of his wife - with cat
Manet - Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts
8" x 10", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The walls are painted a very dark charcoal colour - presumably because of Manet's liking for black and dark greys.  It makes for a very sombre exhibition.

The two portraits of his wife are two of the paintings I liked best in the exhibition.

Here's my "headlines" Exhibition Review: Manet - Portraying Life at the RA

You can see more of my sketching of exhibitions on this blog