Boy with Pitcher (La Régalade)
Sul dipinto
X-radiographs have revealed that this painting is a fragment of Les Gitanos, a large portrait of an itinerant family that Édouard Manet exhibited in 1863 and 1867. Apparently dissatisfied with the composition, he cut the painting into sections, which he reconceived as individual works of art. Two of these sections, Bohémien and Still Life with Bag and Garlic, are in the collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi; the final section, Bohémienne, is lost.
To make this portion a standalone work, Manet painted over the head of the woman, which was originally under the boy’s shoulder, and replaced the blue sky with a dark background. He then renamed the painting La Régalade, which means to pour liquid from a bottle down the throat without touching the lips.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Scheda
- Numero di inventario
Nel frattempo, nella vita di Édouard Manet
Tutta la vita1861
His first participation in the Salon
In 1861 the Salon accepted two canvases by Manet: “Portrait of Monsieur and Madame Manet” and “The Spanish Singer”. Critics received the portrait coldly, while “The Spanish Singer” was admired by Théophile Gautier and, because of its popularity, hung in a more conspicuous place; the work intrigued young artists and brought new business to his studio.
1862
“Music in the Tuileries”: the fury of the public
In 1862 Manet exhibited “Music in the Tuileries” (probably painted in 1860), where the strollers include the poet Baudelaire, the musician Offenbach and the artist himself. It mostly provoked fury: the thick brushstrokes looked crude and unfinished, several visitors threatened to destroy the canvas; Delacroix defended it, and the controversy made Manet a well-known name in Paris.
c. 1862
Victorine Meurent: model and lover
Victorine-Louise Meurent, a young provincial eager to escape poverty, posed for “The Street Singer”; soon the painter and his model were bound not only by creative but by intimate ties. Rumours spread across Paris, but Suzanne either learned nothing or did not let on.
1863
“The Luncheon on the Grass” at the Salon des Refusés
The Salon of 1863 rejected “The Luncheon on the Grass” (originally “Le Bain”), and Manet exhibited it at the Salon des Refusés, a parallel exhibition initiated by Napoleon III after a public outcry, the jury having accepted only 2,217 of more than 5,000 submissions. The juxtaposition of dressed men and a nude woman and the sketch-like handling caused a scandal; one critic compared the brushwork to a “floor mop”.
