The jetty of Boulogne-sur-Mer

By the time Manet painted this work – four years later – Boulogne had been transformed into a tourist hot spot for Parisians. Manet included several beach visitors in this scene of the jetties in Boulogne-sur-Mer. He first drew these figures individually in his sketchbook, subsequently arranging them separately or in groups in his elaborated composition. For the ‘Pier’ he selected, a woman with a parasol who, together with a little boy, leans over the railing at the right, and, seen from behind, a young girl and an overweight woman with a shawl in the middle.