1K views · 143 reactions | Happy birthday to painter Édouard Manet, who was born on this day in 1832.  Our exhibition "Manet: Three Paintings from the Norton Simon Museum" may have closed earlier this month, but you can still celebrate the artist's pioneering vision with the accompanying catalogue, now 50% off in the Museum Shop! Buy your copy at frick.org/shop. | The Frick Collection | Facebook

Édouard Manet’s “The Railway” is one of the most famous paintings in the world, but when it first debuted in 1874, critics hated it. To them, it seemed trivial—just a woman and child near a train station. What they missed was the deeper meaning. This painting symbolized change. Paris was modernizing at a rapid pace, and railways were transforming the city, accelerating the rhythm of life. In the painting, the woman and child are right next to each other, but they’re disconnected. The child is fi