A Bar At The Folies Reading Answers

Dec 12, 2022

A Bar At The Folies Reading Answers is an IELTS reading topic that interprets and assesses the ability of the student in analysing the passage and answering given questions. This IELTS reading topic comprises of a total of 13 questions. A Bar At The Folies Reading Answers has question type such as; choose the correct option. In order to solve choose the correct letter, candidates are required to read the IELTS reading passage carefully. Moreover, candidates must ensure that they strictly abide by the word limits mentioned and not exceed them. There are numerous topics found in IELTS reading practice papers for practice.

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Reading Passage Questions

One of the most critically renowned paintings of the 19th-century modernist movement is the French painter Edouard Manet’s masterwork, A Bar at the Folies. Originally belonging to the composer Emmanuel Chabrier, it is now in the possession of The Courtauld Gallery in London, where it has also become a favourite with the crowds.
The painting is set late at night in a nineteenth-century Parisian nightclub. A barmaid stands alone behind her bar, fitted out in a black bodice that has a frilly white neckline, and with a spray of flowers sitting across her décolletage. She rests her hands on the bar and gazes out forlornly at a point just below the viewer, not quite making eye contact. Also on the bar are some bottles of liquor and a bowl of oranges, but much of the activity in the room takes place in the reflection of a mirror behind the barmaid. Through this mirror we see an auditorium, bustling with blurred figures and faces: men in top hats, a woman examining the scene below her through binoculars, another in long gloves, even the feet of a trapeze artist demonstrating acrobatic feats above his adoring crowd. In the foreground of the reflection a man with a thick moustache is talking with the barmaid.
Although the Folies (-Bergère) was an actual establishment in late nineteenth-century Paris, and the subject of the painting was a real barmaid who worked there, Manet did not attempt to recapture every detail of the bar in his rendition. The painting was largely completed in a private studio belonging to the painter, where the barmaid posed with a number of bottles, and this was then integrated with quick sketches the artist made at the Folies itself.
Even more confounding than Manet’s relaxed attention to detail, however, is the relationship in the painting between the activity in the mirrored reflection and that which we see in the unreflected foreground. In a similar vein to Diego Velazquez’ much earlier work Las Meninas, Manet uses the mirror to toy with our ideas about which details are true to life and which are not. In the foreground, for example, the barmaid is positioned upright, her face betraying an expression of lonely detachment, yet in the mirrored reflection she appears to be leaning forward and to the side, apparently engaging in conversation with her moustachioed customer. As a result of this, the customer’s stance is also altered. In the mirror, he should be blocked from view as a result of where the barmaid is standing, yet Manet has re-positioned him to the side. The overall impact on the viewer is one of a dreamlike disjuncture between reality and illusion.
Why would Manet engage in such deceit? Perhaps for that very reason: to depict two different states of mind or emotion. Manet seems to be conveying his understanding of the modern workplace, a place – from his perspective – of alienation, where workers felt torn from their ‘true’ selves and forced to assume an artificial working identity. What we see in the mirrored reflection is the barmaid’s working self, busy serving a customer. The front-on view, however, bears witness to how the barmaid truly feels at work: hopeless, adrift, and alone.
Ever since its debut at the Paris Salon of 1882, art historians have produced reams of books and journal articles disputing the positioning of the barmaid and patron in A Bar at the Folies. Some have even conducted staged representations of the painting in order to ascertain whether Manet’s seemingly distorted point of view might have been possible after all. Yet while academics are understandably drawn to the compositional enigma of the painting, the layperson is always likely to see the much simpler, more human story beneath. No doubt this is the way Manet would have wanted it.

Solution and Explanation

Questions 1–5:
Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A–F.
Which paragraph includes the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet.

a description of how Manet created the painting
aspects of the painting that scholars are most interested in
the writer’s view of the idea that Manet wants to communicate
examples to show why the bar scene is unrealistic
a statement about the popularity of the painting

A description of how Manet created the painting

Answer: Paragraph C
Supporting Sentence: The painting was primarily completed in a private studio belonging to the painter, where the barmaid was posed with several bottles. Later, the painting was completed with quick sketches the artist made at the Folies itself.
Keywords: Manet, painting, private studio, painter, barmaid, bottles, quick sketches, artist, Folies
Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 3-5
Explanation: Manet's process is depicted in the picture by the words "barmaid," "bottles," and "rapid drawings." It provided an explanation of Manet's works.

Aspects of the painting that scholars are most interested in

Answer: Paragraph F
Supporting Sentence: From the day of its launch at the Paris salon of 1882, art historians have argued about the posture of the patron and barmaid.
Keywords: painting, scholars, Paris, historians, posture, patron, barmaid
Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 1-2
Explanation: Scholars, not historians, were curious about how the customer and bartender were standing. Information about the students' areas of interest is provided in paragraph F.

The writer’s view of the idea that Manet wants to communicate

Answer: Paragraph E
Supporting Sentence: He wanted to convey how the modern workplace works from his perspective, where he sees workers felt torn from their ‘true’ selves and forced to assume an artificial working identity.
Keywords: communicate, convey, modern workplace, workers, true selves, artificial working identity
Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 3-5
Explanation: Convey means to communicate, and he wants to convey his opinion on how the contemporary workplace operates.

Examples to show why the bar scene is unrealistic

Answer: Paragraph D
Supporting Sentence: This has an impact of dreamlike disconnection between reality and illusion on the viewer.
Keywords: dreamlike, reality, illusion
Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 9-10
Explanation: The description of the scene as "dreamlike" and "disconnection between reality and illusion" suggests that it is an illusion. Thus, the response is supported by the phrase.

A statement about the popularity of the painting

Answer: Paragraph A
Supporting Sentence: The Courtauld Gallery in London presently owns it and is quite the crowd-favourite.
Keywords: popularity. crowd-favourite
Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 2-3
Explanation: Popularity is referred to as crowd favourite. According to the passage, it is currently owned by the Courtauld Gallery in London, which is a favourite among the public. So, there is a comment regarding popularity in the text.

Questions 6–10:
Write the answers in not more than three words. Write your answers in the blank space given for questions 6 – 10.

Name the first owner of A Bar at the Folies?

Answer: Courtauld Gallery
Supporting Sentence: The Courtauld Gallery in London presently owns it and is quite the crowd-favourite.
Keywords: Courtauld Gallery, London, owns
Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 2-3
Explanation: A Bar at the Folies is owned by Courtauld Gallery, who also owns the gallery. Therefore, Courtauld Gallery is the right response.

What dress is the barmaid wearing?

Answer: A black bodice
Supporting Sentence: Behind the bar, a barmaid is standing wearing a fitted black bodice.
Keywords: bar, barmaid, wearing, black bodice
Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 1-2
Explanation: The phrase "wearing" refers to the garment' "black bodice." Consequently, the bartender is donning a black bodice.

What kind of room is seen at the back of the painting?

Answer: An auditorium
Supporting Sentence: Through this mirror, an auditorium is seen with blurred images and faces—
Keywords: mirror, auditorium
Keyword Location: Para B, Line 7
Explanation: The reflection in the mirror shows the auditorium. The chamber behind the mirror is therefore the auditorium.

Who is entertaining the audience?

Answer: A trapeze artist
Supporting Sentence: … and even a trapeze artist’s feet, showing stunts above his crowds.
Keywords: trapeze, artist’s feet, stunts, crowds
Keyword Location: Para B, Line 9
Explanation: A trapeze performer entertains the crowd by doing stunts. The crowd is therefore being entertained by the trapeze performer.

In which place did most of the work on the painting occur?

Answer: Manet’s private studio
Supporting Sentence: The painting was primarily completed in a private studio belonging to the painter, where the barmaid was posed with several bottles.
Keywords: place, painting, work, completed, private studio, painter, barmaid, posed, bottles
Keyword Location: Para C, Lines 3-4
Explanation: The wording makes it apparent that the painting was mostly finished in a personal studio owned by the painted

Questions 11–13:
Match the correct sentences for questions 11 to 13 from options A to F.

wanted to find out if the painting’s viewpoint was realistic felt they had to work harder at boring and difficult jobs wanted to understand the lives of normal people at the time felt like they had to become someone else wanted to control and manipulate our sense of reality wanted to concentrate on the detail in the painting

Manet misrepresents the likeness of images in the mirror because he

Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: Maybe because he wanted to depict the two different states of mind and emotion. He wanted to convey how the modern workplace works from his perspective, where he sees workers felt torn from their ‘true’ selves and forced to assume an artificial working identity.
Keywords: depict states of mind and emotion, modern workplace, ‘true selves. artificial working identity
Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 2-5
Explanation: The individuals were repositioned to provide a dreamy effect, separating the genuine employees from their false professional identities.

Manet felt modern workers were detached from the work because they

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Unlike Diego Velazquez’s much earlier work ‘Las Meninas’, Manet uses the mirror to play with our ideas about which details are accurate to life and which are not. For example, in the foreground, the barmaid is standing upright. Her face shows an expression of lonely detachment.
Keywords: Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas, Maret
Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 3-6
Explanation: He depicted details that were true to life in the mirror, unlike contemporary paintings. Different from the background is the foreground.

Academics have re-built the painting in real life because they

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: A person who is not an expert will not understand the details of the paintings, but a scholar is highly drawn to the compositional detail of the painting.
Keywords: academics, expert, details, paintings, scholar. compositional detail
Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 4-5
Explanation: Academicians are the only true scholars and authorities. The compositional detail implies that something has been rebuilt in reality.