![REBECCA CAMPBELL](https://img.artlogic.net/w_690,h_500,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5a3bb3fed9edde023b8b4568/625df10c9cabf80de1c08a13b38e09a7.jpg)
Manet was sort of a dandy, so I don’t know what he could have possibly known about the reality of being a ragpicker or homeless person. This is a very outside-in look at a subject. But for me what’s really compelling is that there’s a tiny still-life in the left-hand corner: a painting within the painting. You can make out a shard of glass, a lemon peel, a bit of garbage — but it looks like he’s only touched the canvas a few times. That brevity is something I find compelling about Manet. People think of him as a painter of great beauty, but when you see some marks up close, they are stingy and thin. Also, the palette is so restrictive: Everything has been stripped away. It’s like a man of few words. You have to take what he says and unpack it yourself. --Rebecca Campbell