ALISON HOKANSON: For me, what makes this painting so immediately eye-catching is the gentleman dressed all in white standing out in a sea of aquamarine.

KEITH CHRISTIANSEN: Édouard Manet painted this scene in the summer of 1874, when he spent a good deal of time with his young friend and colleague, Claude Monet. Alison Hokanson:

ALISON HOKANSON: That spring, Monet had participated in what became known as the First Impressionist exhibition. Manet declined to exhibit with the newly dubbed Impressionists, but this canvas shows how taken he was with the style that the Impressionists were developing. The bright colors, the sketchy brushwork—which is particularly visible in the hem of the woman's dress—and the portrayal of outdoor leisure are all characteristics of emerging Impressionism. But at the same time, Manet was still very much his own artist. He’s reduced the elements of the scene to almost the bare minimum that you need to suggest two people boating. He’s abruptly cropped the boat and the sail, and he’s set the boat at an angle, which compresses and flattens the scene so that we seem to be almost right on top of the figures.

KEITH CHRISTIANSEN: The boldly simplified manner in which Manet approached this composition reveals his admiration for Japanese color woodblock prints—an interest that he shared with Monet and with his fellow Impressionists.