Edouard MANET (1832-1883)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Self portrait II Paris Venice Sport in art Origins of sports Horse
Chronology : 1860-1869 1870-1879 1879 1880-1889 1881
See also : Self portrait II Paris Venice Sport in art Origins of sports Horse
Chronology : 1860-1869 1870-1879 1879 1880-1889 1881
1860 L'Italienne
2018 SOLD for $ 11M by Christie's
By rejecting the classical teaching of Thomas Couture, the young Edouard Manet triggered the modernism in French painting. He was inspired in the Louvre by the masterpieces of Velazquez and Titian which he applied to low level subjects such as the absinthe addict, one of the first of his works to attract fame by horrifying the bourgeois, and rejected by the 1859 Salon.
Another preferred theme was the Spanish characters in bright colors over a dark background in the manner of Velazquez. In the same style, l'Italienne, oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm, depicts at mid length a 19 year old artist's model from Ancona. The rosy cheeked young woman is dressed in a fancy Mediterranean garb drawn by the artist from his basket of clothes.
L'Italienne was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 29A.
Monet's breakthrough in the Salon was Le Chanteur Espagnol, accepted in 1861 and favorably commented by Fantin-Latour and Baudelaire.
Another preferred theme was the Spanish characters in bright colors over a dark background in the manner of Velazquez. In the same style, l'Italienne, oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm, depicts at mid length a 19 year old artist's model from Ancona. The rosy cheeked young woman is dressed in a fancy Mediterranean garb drawn by the artist from his basket of clothes.
L'Italienne was sold for $ 11M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 29A.
Monet's breakthrough in the Salon was Le Chanteur Espagnol, accepted in 1861 and favorably commented by Fantin-Latour and Baudelaire.
masterpiece
1863 Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe
Musée d'Orsay
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
masterpiece
1863 Olympia by Manet
Musée d'Orsay
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1872 Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne
2004 SOLD for $ 26.3M by Sotheby's
Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas have masterfully shaken up the classicism. Building on their predecessors, they find new ideas for staging and colors.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
Manet easily entered into artist circles. He enjoys social life and does not wait for the recognition of the Salons. His themes are unlimited. Before him, Courbet went already complacently up to the scandal. Baudelaire and then Zola recognize the originality of his approach.
On May 5, 2004, Sotheby's sold for $ 26.3M Les Courses au Bois de Boulogne, oil on canvas 73 x 94 cm painted in 1872 by Manet, lot 13, from the collection of one of the most famous owners of racehorses, John Hay Whitney. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The artist skillfully mixed observation and imitation. It seems that the topography of the Longchamp racecourse was painted on the spot.
Manet had demonstrated a few years earlier in his first bullfighting scenes that a direct participation in the event was not essential, since he could rely on Goya. Here the horses in full gallop all fly with their four legs lifted, as in the Epsom Derby painted by Géricault in 1821, acquired by the Louvre in 1866. The imperturbable position of the jockeys in full race is not realistic : the sporting effort was obviously not appreciated by Manet.
Manet's painting is however very modern. The track and the lawn are aquamarine blue, highlighting the contrasts in a freedom of colors that anticipates expressionism for several decades. The distance of the subjects is marked by an increasing blur, as if it were a photograph focused on the action in progress in the foreground. This artifice provides the whole composition with an effect of depth, different from the solutions sought by his impressionist friends.
Venise
1
1874 Le Grand Canal à Venise
2022 SOLD for $ 52M by Christie's
The reciprocal influence of Manet and Monet was tremendous in art history. When the Impressionniste brush stroke was developed by his friends, Edouard Manet went to use lighter colors without his previous dark backgrounds. He also began to work outdoors while continuing to complete his best works in the studio.
Venice was another influence to Manet. In a first visit in 1853 while he was a student, he had admired Titian's Venus of Urbino that directly inspired his own Olympia in 1863.
Manet made his second visit to Venice in the fall of 1874. During his one month stay, he disregarded the monuments for appreciating the details that brought that amazing atmosphere to the city. He had spent the previous summer in his family home in Gennevilliers in the vicinity of Monet's Argenteuil and both artists had worked side by side and shared thoughts.
Manet painted only two views during that trip, both of the Gran Canale. Their unprecedented style to represent Venice certainly influenced Monet's views of the canal 34 years later.
Le Grand Canal à Venise, oil on canvas 58 x 48 cm, is a daring composition that could please Degas. The focusing point is a misaligned group of humble masts whose blue and white stripes make a bright contrast over the rest of the scenery including a half hidden soft pink Santa Maria della Salute. He added a cropped gondola at both sides of the picture. The reflections in the rippling water are inspired by Monet's views of the Seine.
It was sold for $ 52M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 27. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Venice was another influence to Manet. In a first visit in 1853 while he was a student, he had admired Titian's Venus of Urbino that directly inspired his own Olympia in 1863.
Manet made his second visit to Venice in the fall of 1874. During his one month stay, he disregarded the monuments for appreciating the details that brought that amazing atmosphere to the city. He had spent the previous summer in his family home in Gennevilliers in the vicinity of Monet's Argenteuil and both artists had worked side by side and shared thoughts.
Manet painted only two views during that trip, both of the Gran Canale. Their unprecedented style to represent Venice certainly influenced Monet's views of the canal 34 years later.
Le Grand Canal à Venise, oil on canvas 58 x 48 cm, is a daring composition that could please Degas. The focusing point is a misaligned group of humble masts whose blue and white stripes make a bright contrast over the rest of the scenery including a half hidden soft pink Santa Maria della Salute. He added a cropped gondola at both sides of the picture. The reflections in the rippling water are inspired by Monet's views of the Seine.
It was sold for $ 52M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 27. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
for reference
1874-1875
Shelburne Museum
The other view of Venice by Manet, 64 x 75 cm completed in 1875, focuses on a gondola with a standing gondolier paddling behind similar masts.The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1878 Rue Mosnier aux Drapeaux
1989 SOLD for $ 26.4M by Christie's
A keen Republican and a friend of Zola, Edouard Manet was appealed by the depiction of daily life with its pleasures and pains.
After the Franco-Prussian war and the Commune, the Troisième République was established, endeavoring to bring back peace and prosperity. From May to October 1878 in Paris, the Exposition Universelle is the showcase of that recovery.
A Fête de la Paix is inserted in the calendar of the Exposition at June 30 to honor the French Republic. It is an opportunity to let crowds occupy the streets and to hang from the windows the French tricolore flag. Two years later the feast becomes yearly and national and is transferred to Bastille day.
Monet and Manet represented the feast in an opposite style. Monet's Rue Montorgueil is a masterpiece of Impressionnisme, intermingling the atmosphere of the feast with the colors of innumerable flags.
Manet's depiction is not festive but social. The rue Mosnier was painted from Manet's studio window. It is only occupied by sparse horse carriages with bourgeois at mid and far distances. and a disabled man in the foreground, behind a ladder carried by a worker out of field. The one legged beggar in a difficult walk with crutches symbolizes the ravages of war. The top down view reveals a garbage area behind a fence.
Rue Mosnier aux drapeaux, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm, was sold for $ 26.4M by Christie's on November 14, 1989. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
After the Franco-Prussian war and the Commune, the Troisième République was established, endeavoring to bring back peace and prosperity. From May to October 1878 in Paris, the Exposition Universelle is the showcase of that recovery.
A Fête de la Paix is inserted in the calendar of the Exposition at June 30 to honor the French Republic. It is an opportunity to let crowds occupy the streets and to hang from the windows the French tricolore flag. Two years later the feast becomes yearly and national and is transferred to Bastille day.
Monet and Manet represented the feast in an opposite style. Monet's Rue Montorgueil is a masterpiece of Impressionnisme, intermingling the atmosphere of the feast with the colors of innumerable flags.
Manet's depiction is not festive but social. The rue Mosnier was painted from Manet's studio window. It is only occupied by sparse horse carriages with bourgeois at mid and far distances. and a disabled man in the foreground, behind a ladder carried by a worker out of field. The one legged beggar in a difficult walk with crutches symbolizes the ravages of war. The top down view reveals a garbage area behind a fence.
Rue Mosnier aux drapeaux, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm, was sold for $ 26.4M by Christie's on November 14, 1989. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1878-1879 Self Portrait
1
with palette
2010 SOLD for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's
In 1878 or 1879, Edouard Manet painted two self portraits, which were the only ones of his career. Perhaps he wanted to change the image that his contemporaries had of him, fifteen years after such powerful and scandalous progresses of modern art as were le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia.
Manet is not a rapin. This colloquial term used in Paris at that time applied to partygoer artists who courted easy milliners who were known as grisettes. Instead, his elegant jacket and hat, and his full and forked beard provided the image of a grand bourgeois.
The oil on canvas 85 x 71 cm reinforces the quest for respectability by including the professional attributes of the artist: his brushes and palette. There is however an obstacle to the social success of Manet : he stares into space, sadly. Aged 47, he is already sick.
Manet is often classified among the Impressionists, whom he was one of the first to support. He was rather a great experimenter of the artistic language, and each of his paintings is a bit unique. This one is among the most prestigious. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Christie's on May 12, 1997, lot 107, and for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 9. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Manet is not a rapin. This colloquial term used in Paris at that time applied to partygoer artists who courted easy milliners who were known as grisettes. Instead, his elegant jacket and hat, and his full and forked beard provided the image of a grand bourgeois.
The oil on canvas 85 x 71 cm reinforces the quest for respectability by including the professional attributes of the artist: his brushes and palette. There is however an obstacle to the social success of Manet : he stares into space, sadly. Aged 47, he is already sick.
Manet is often classified among the Impressionists, whom he was one of the first to support. He was rather a great experimenter of the artistic language, and each of his paintings is a bit unique. This one is among the most prestigious. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Christie's on May 12, 1997, lot 107, and for £ 22.4M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2010, lot 9. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
for reference
with cap
Bridgestone Museum, Tokyo
The image of the only other self portrait by Manet is shared by Wikimedia.
1880 Jeune Fille dans un Jardin
2000 SOLD for $ 21M by Sotheby's
Jeune Fille dans un Jardin, oil on canvas 150 x 115 cm painted by Edouard Manet in 1880, was sold for $ 21M by Sotheby's on November 9, 2000, lot 21. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1881 Le Printemps
2014 SOLD for $ 65M by Christie's
The art of Edouard Manet was based on the great masters of the past but his wish to express life and mores of his time generated a lasting misunderstanding. All along two decades, he was rejected in the Salons that were the arbiters of the French official good taste.
Everything begins to change in 1881. His old friend Antonin Proust, close to Gambetta, suggests Manet to produce a series of allegorical paintings on the theme of the four seasons. Manet soaks carefully and slowly within this project.
The first paintings, Spring (Le Printemps) and Autumn, are made within that year. In the following year, studies of amazones show how Manet wanted to express Summer, but he died in 1883 without having worked on Winter. In 1882, Le Printemps and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergères finally provide Manet with a triumph in the Salon.
Spring is a time for renewal, hope and flowers. Manet was inspired by the ideal of the flower-woman played by the very young actress Jeanne Demarsy nicely dressed in flowery clothes in an environment of rhododendrons. Jeanne is seen in profile in the style of the Renaissance but proudly expresses the autonomy of the new woman.
Le Printemps, oil on canvas 74 x 52 cm, was sold for $ 65M from a lower estimate of $ 25M on November 5, 2014 by Christie's, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Everything begins to change in 1881. His old friend Antonin Proust, close to Gambetta, suggests Manet to produce a series of allegorical paintings on the theme of the four seasons. Manet soaks carefully and slowly within this project.
The first paintings, Spring (Le Printemps) and Autumn, are made within that year. In the following year, studies of amazones show how Manet wanted to express Summer, but he died in 1883 without having worked on Winter. In 1882, Le Printemps and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergères finally provide Manet with a triumph in the Salon.
Spring is a time for renewal, hope and flowers. Manet was inspired by the ideal of the flower-woman played by the very young actress Jeanne Demarsy nicely dressed in flowery clothes in an environment of rhododendrons. Jeanne is seen in profile in the style of the Renaissance but proudly expresses the autonomy of the new woman.
Le Printemps, oil on canvas 74 x 52 cm, was sold for $ 65M from a lower estimate of $ 25M on November 5, 2014 by Christie's, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Le Bar aux Folies Bergère
1
1881
2015 SOLD for £ 17M by Sotheby's
Edouard Manet is one of the great experimenters of art in the nineteenth century. In early 1880, his health is deteriorating, generating infirmities in the limbs. This difficulty seems to accelerate his creativity, as if he felt that he had little remaining time to prove that he is one of the top artists.
The inspiration of Manet is modernist, which is clearly visible in the series of Seasons that he will not complete and where he is adapting the classic portraiture to display a modern young woman.
On June 24, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 17M Le bar aux Folies-Bergère, oil on canvas 47 x 56 cm painted in 1881, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The barmaid is positioned before a vast space which is a reflection in a wall mirror, including her own reflection. The exact position of the glass is hardly noticeable. In the background, colors in dots figure a crowd at a show, anticipating altogether Lautrec and abstract art.
This scene that desires to be a counterpart to Las Meninas by Velazquez is troubling in its angles. It was painted in the studio. The man on the right who is visible only in his reflection is the door neighbor. The consistency of his position is explained when we accept to exclude the logical assumption that it he placed just in front of the woman.
Manet wants to create a masterpiece and appreciates that this theme allows it. Painted a few months later, the second and final version 96 x 130 cm marks a come back to a scene in realistic line with a towering girl whose actual model is an employee of the Folies-Bergère, a crowd whose details are visible and some additions like the increased assortment of drinks on the bar and the legs of the trapeze artist that anticipate Chagall.
The inspiration of Manet is modernist, which is clearly visible in the series of Seasons that he will not complete and where he is adapting the classic portraiture to display a modern young woman.
On June 24, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 17M Le bar aux Folies-Bergère, oil on canvas 47 x 56 cm painted in 1881, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The barmaid is positioned before a vast space which is a reflection in a wall mirror, including her own reflection. The exact position of the glass is hardly noticeable. In the background, colors in dots figure a crowd at a show, anticipating altogether Lautrec and abstract art.
This scene that desires to be a counterpart to Las Meninas by Velazquez is troubling in its angles. It was painted in the studio. The man on the right who is visible only in his reflection is the door neighbor. The consistency of his position is explained when we accept to exclude the logical assumption that it he placed just in front of the woman.
Manet wants to create a masterpiece and appreciates that this theme allows it. Painted a few months later, the second and final version 96 x 130 cm marks a come back to a scene in realistic line with a towering girl whose actual model is an employee of the Folies-Bergère, a crowd whose details are visible and some additions like the increased assortment of drinks on the bar and the legs of the trapeze artist that anticipate Chagall.
2
masterpiece
1881-1882
Institut Courtauld's
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1881 Le Banc
1990 SOLD for $ 16.5M by Christie's
Le Banc, subtitled Le Jardin de Versailles, is a view of a trellised garden painted by Manet in 1881. This oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm was sold for $ 16.5M by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1882 Lilas et Roses
2018 SOLD for $ 13M by Christie's
In 1882 the health condition of Edouard Manet worsens. Reclusive in his studio, he continues to work but in smaller formats.
Manet has many friends who visit him. He has always enjoyed to meet women. After they leave, he likes to paint the bouquets they have brought. The choice of flowers nicely reflects the visitor's personality. This joyous freshness certainly soothes the sufferings of the artist.
These ultimate still lifes display roses, peonies or lilacs on a neutral background. The language of flowers is very effective in its simplicity of brush strokes and colors. The stems and the meniscus appear through the glass vase.
On June 22, 2010, Sotheby's sold a Bouquet de pivoines 55 x 42 cm for £ 7.7M over a lower estimate of £ 4M.
On May 8, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 7M Lilas et roses, oil on canvas 32 x 25 cm, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Manet had presented this floral still life to the daughter of his doctor in November 1882. In her enthusiastic gratitude, the young woman commented that such flowers will never fade. Acquired in 1938 by Abby and John D. Jr, this very elegant small painting adorned the apartments of two generations of the Rockefeller family.
Vase de Fleurs, Roses et Lilas, oil on canvas 56 x 35 cm also painted in 1882, was sold for $ 10M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2024, lot 31.
Manet has many friends who visit him. He has always enjoyed to meet women. After they leave, he likes to paint the bouquets they have brought. The choice of flowers nicely reflects the visitor's personality. This joyous freshness certainly soothes the sufferings of the artist.
These ultimate still lifes display roses, peonies or lilacs on a neutral background. The language of flowers is very effective in its simplicity of brush strokes and colors. The stems and the meniscus appear through the glass vase.
On June 22, 2010, Sotheby's sold a Bouquet de pivoines 55 x 42 cm for £ 7.7M over a lower estimate of £ 4M.
On May 8, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 7M Lilas et roses, oil on canvas 32 x 25 cm, lot 7. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Manet had presented this floral still life to the daughter of his doctor in November 1882. In her enthusiastic gratitude, the young woman commented that such flowers will never fade. Acquired in 1938 by Abby and John D. Jr, this very elegant small painting adorned the apartments of two generations of the Rockefeller family.
Vase de Fleurs, Roses et Lilas, oil on canvas 56 x 35 cm also painted in 1882, was sold for $ 10M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2024, lot 31.
#LiveLikeARockefeller ‘Lilas et roses’ by #EdouardManet has brought joy to 2 generations of the Rockefeller family. “I remember very clearly this small...picture hanging in Mother’s sitting room,” David Rockefeller recalled. “It is...a painting that gives ongoing pleasure.” pic.twitter.com/FIUWrXlDTP
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) February 11, 2018