Édouard Manet (1832–83)
“Portrait
Charles Baudelaire” or “‘Portrait Charles Baudelaire, de face” after Félix
Nadar (1820–1910), 1865, published in Charles Asselineau's book, "Charles Baudelaire,
sa Vie et son Oeuvre” (Paris, 1869). This impression is from a later edition published
by Lemerre.
Etching (with
aquatint?) on cream wove paper
Size: (sheet)
25 x 23 cm; (plate) 9.6 x 8.2 cm
State: iv (of
iv)
Inscribed in
the plate with the artist’s signature (lower right) “Manet”; (lower left) “Peint
et Gravé par Manet 1865”; (lower right) “Imp. A. Salmon.”
Auctionata
offers a description of this print: https://auctionata.com/en/o/50256/edouard-manet-etching-portrait-charles-baudelaire-1865
The British
Museum offers a description of this print (before the plate was cut?): http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1401863&partId=1&searchText=manet+etching&page=1
Harris 61 (Jean
C. Harris, “Edouard Manet: Graphic Works: A Definitive Catalogue Raisonne”, New
York, Collectors Edition, 1970)
Condition:
posthumous impression in flawless condition.
I am selling this original etching—an impression taken from the original
plate but printed posthumously—by Manet for a total cost of AU$172 (currently
US$132.38/EUR119.78/GBP106.62 at the time of this listing) including postage
and handling to anywhere in the world
If you are
interested in purchasing this posthumous but genuine Manet etching in flawless
condition, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send
you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.
This print has been sold
Sometimes the
quality of an artist is revealed by the way that the artist portrays shadows. The reason that
I mention this very questionable tool of assessment is because I have just been
studying how Manet has constructed the dark background behind this portrait of the
famous French poet, Baudelaire (1821–67). At first glance the shadowy background
may seem like a complicated matrix of lines. On closer examination, however,
the sensitivity of Manet’s approach may be seen. For instance, although I see
that most of the strokes are laid either horizontally or vertically and
intersect to produce a broad spread of dense dark, layered on top of these intersecting
lines are other groupings of lines aligned so that they visually echo the
silhouette shape of Baudelaire’s head. In fact, the more I look into the dark
mass of the background the more subtlety I see of rhythms
within the dark.
