<b>Édouard Manet</b>
(1832 - 1883)

<i>Manet came from a well–to–do family, and this painting provides a glimpse of the sophisticated Parisian world he loved. He was uncomfortable in the countryside, preferring instead the finery of the city. These elegant men and coquettish young women are attending a masked ball held each year during Lent. "Imagine," ran a description in the newspaper Figaro, "the opera house packed to the rafters, the boxes furnished out with all the pretty showgirls of Paris. . . . " There is little doubt about the risqué nature of the evening, where masked young women, likely respectable ladies concealing their identities, scantily clad members of the Parisian demimonde, and well–dressed young men all mingle together. 
</i>

https://www.nga.gov/artworks/61246-masked-ball-opera 

<i>Manet made his preparatory sketches for it from life at an opera house at 12 rue Le Peletier in the 9th arrondissement of Paris - this building was reduced to rubble by a fire later that year. He then produced the painting in his studio on rue d'Amsterdam, to which he had moved shortly before. Its subject is reminiscent of the same artist's Music in the Tuileries (1863) - several of his friends posed for both works in his studio, notably the art collector Hecht and the composer Emmanuel Chabrier for Ball. </i>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_Ball_at_the_Opera_House

Masked Ball at the Opera House
1873
Oil on canvas
59 x 72.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
https://www.nga.gov/artworks/61246-masked-ball-opera