Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: les trois femmes noires (original) (raw)

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: les trois femmes noires is a massive painting created by the African-American visual artist Mickalene Thomas. The painting is both a critique of and reference to Édouard Manet's 1863 painting Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe. Thomas' piece portrays three bold, black women adorned with rich colors, patterned clothing, and radiant Afro-styled hair; the women's positioning and posing is reminiscent of the subjects of Manet's piece, but the gazes of all three women are fixed on the viewer. Thomas created the painting, her largest piece at the time, in 2010 after being commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City to create a display piece for 53rd street window of the museum's restaurant The Modern.