Tag: edouard manet

Manet’s First Dog Portrait

a brushy oil sketch portrait by manet of an older white french guy in 19th century light colored summer suit and straw hat, sitting in a garden of green trees and grass and brown dirt underfoot, with a black and white dog curled up on his lap. selling at christies paris in oct 2025
Édouard Manet, Portrait de Plydie, aka Ambroise Adam dans le jardin à Pressagny, aka Portrait de M. Adam, Sénateur de Seine-et-Marne, 1861, 16 x 12 3/4 in., oil on canvas, at Christie’s Paris 24 Oct 2025

In 1984 when Juliet Wilson Bareau published her research on this small Manet, which had remained in the sitter’s family, and had not been included in either catalogue raisonné, and had only been seen in public once, she did note that it was the artist’s first plein air painting, but she did not note that it was the artist’s first portrait of a dog.

By cross-referencing a letter from the human sitter, Ambroise Adam, a relative of Manet’s uncle, whose son was a close friend of the then 29-yo artist, Wilson Bareau determined the painting was made in the late afternoon of Friday, July 19, 1861: « Édouard m’a fait asseoir pour un portrait avec Plydie sur mes genoux. » “Édouard had me sit for a portrait with Plydie on my lap.”

Weirdly, Christie’s, which is selling the painting next week in Paris, published an image of the letter, and the quote in the lot essay AND the magazine is not quite what the letter says: «pour gagner le diner, Édouard m’as fais poser avec Plydie sur les genoux pour un portrait.» “To earn dinner, Édouard had me pose with Plydie on my lap for a portrait.”

a detail of a manet painting of a older guy sitting in the leafy garden, showing just the black and white dog on his lap, which is rendered with readily identifiable and discreet brushstrokes, mostly in black or white, with a bit of grey underneath. the man's hands can be identified by the peach colored brushstrokes on the dog's back.
Édouard Manet, Portrait de Plydie (detail), 4 x 5 in.

It’s not entirely clear that Manet’s portrait subject was not, in fact, Plydie. And just look at it. It’s so sparely executed, you can almost count the number of brushstrokes. And just look at that little face.

I was ready to call this Manet’s first dog painting, until I checked the CR. There’s a painting with a grab bag of Rubens elements in it, including a dog, called la Pêche, (Fishing), that’s dated 1861. But the Met says it’s related to Manet’s wedding, and so from 1862-3.

manet's painting of a youngish white boy with fine features and short dark hair, wearing a black sweater over a white collared shirt, and holding a market basket under his right arm while his left hand is inserted into the basket. at the bottom right corner of the painting, near the kid's trousers, is the head of a somewhat shaggy dog. the background is blue sky and white clouds, but the whole thing feels assembled in a studio.
Édouard Manet, some Gamin au Chien, 1860 or 1861, 92 x 72 cm,

And there’s a painting of a kid with a basket and a dog called, le Gamin, Enfant au Chien, or le Gamin au Chien, which the CR says is from 1861. But the CR also says it depicts Alexandre, a 15-yo model who worked for Manet, and who hanged himself in Manet’s studio. It does not say that happened in 1859. And the CR also says Alexandre posed for an 1858 painting, Gamin avec Cerises (Boy with Cherries), and it does not note they look nothing alike. And then Alexandre is also supposed to have been the model for this 1862-64 etching & aquatint of a boy with a dog. Put me down as unpersuaded.

And put Plydie down as the first dog whose portrait Manet painted. Given that it’ll be on view during Art Basel Paris, I am unconvinced of the idea a facsimile object is useful or necessary.

24 Oct 2025, Lot 125: Édouard Manet, Ambroise Adam dans le jardin à Pressagny, 1861, est EUR 100-150,000 [update: sold for EUR 895,340 wow] [christies]
Previously, related: Manet Paints Dog

Just Dropped: Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M4), “Fleurs”

Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M4), “Fleurs”, 2024, 22 x 13 7/8 in., dye sublimation print on high gloss aluminum, with handmade COA in India ink on Arches, signed, stamped & numbered, available until the sale at Sotheby‘s on May 15, 2024

I wish I knew how to quit you, Manet Facsimile Objects.

I thought they were done, products of the moment, the moment when we couldn’t travel, or shouldn’t, when the museums were closed, and when full-scale facsimile objects would serve as proxies, simulating the experience of being in the presence of the artwork.

an arrangement of Facsimile Objects: the OG peeking out from behind Credit Suisse Dürer Diptych

[They also each include a standing offer to exchange the original work for a certificated Facsimile Object, a liberatory gesture to help you, the new owner, to focus on yourself and your experience, and not worry for a minute over the work’s condition, state, or worth. I’m ready to exchange whenever you are; hmu.]

Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M1) “Minnay”, 2021, a Facsimile Object of a painting that had never been seen in public, and which surfaced at auction for only 2.5 days during COVID

But now, in the midst of [gestures around to the city and the world] all this, the call has come forth, and it is impossible—for me, at least—to heed it. Andrew Russeth’s effusive invitation to visit Manet’s rapturous late still life, Vase de fleurs, roses et lilas (1882), at Sotheby’s in New York, where it is on view only until it is sold on May 15th.

Édouard Manet Facsimile Objects (M2) & (M3), 2022, based on Ann Getty’s Manets, of which “Bob” [left] turned up at the same Getty Manet show as the flowers of (M4) Fleurs. Then they were sold.

As Andrew notes, this is the only sure window of time in which to see this rare painting, which has only been exhibited three times in 50+ years. Of course, all three of those times were in 2018-2020, a generous gesture on the part of the unidentified seller. It is not at all known what the next owner will do, so we must strike while we can, and get to Sotheby’s if you can.

Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M4) is for those who cannot, and also for those who will not buy the painting next week. Well, not everyone. If you have the means to buy this Manet and don’t, I really suggest you sit this Facsimile Object out.

There is an irrevocable bid, so the Manet will sell to someone, but if you’re thinking that no, anything beyond the $7-10 million estimate is irrational, and you, with your financial savvy, elect not to pay, do not get the ÉMFO (M4). If you think it will stand as a trophy to your sophisticated investorial victory while honoring your connoisseurship, LMAO no it won’t. If you have the means and still somehow decide not to buy this painting, I fear Facsimile Object will offer you cold comfort in your folly and a sober reckoning of your failure. Every time you look at its high-gloss aluminum finish, you’ll see yourself looking, and remember that you could have bought the Manet instead, and you didn’t. You’ll get a Facsimile Object from me—and a handmade Certificate of Authenticity—but you won’t have my sympathy. I can’t even promise you’ll get my pity.

If you actually take a run at it and lose, OTOH, I hope you have pre-ordered the Facsimile Object as FOMO insurance; because if you wait til the auction is over, it will be too late, and your regret will be doubled. For you, dear underbidder, my heart would ache, but the concept is inviolate. And of course, for the winner, a Facsimile Object is always set aside, and a trade is always on the table. Straight across, with the COA thrown in to sweeten the deal.

ceci n’est pas un Facsimile Objet: a Drouot representative simulating the experience of holding ÉMFO (M1) using Édouard Manet’s le Chien “Minnay” in February 2021.

Andrew calls this a “small picture,” but honestly, at 22×14 inches, it’s a large Facsimile Object, almost 4x the size of the previous ones. One unexpected thing about Minnay [and all subsequent FOs] was how tactile they are, how nice it feels to hold them. Until this week, I would have compared it to a luxuriously thin iPad. But whether in your hands, on a shelf, or on a wall, this will be a substantial presence, and it is, admittedly, daunting to think about.

In fact, this whole thing feels like folly. But maybe it’s just the folly we need in these darkening times, the folly of flowers, friendly gestures of fleeting beauty, which also give us a glimpse of ourselves.

Order Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M4) “Fleurs”, with signed, stamped & numbered COA, before the Manet sells on 15 May 2024 around 8PM EST.

[15 May update: I will be offline during the sale, but to preserve the conceptual nature of the project, orders will only be accepted which arrive before the Manet lot hammers down. Thank you for your engagement.

OK, that was that, $8.5 million hammer, sorry Beijing underbidder, you may not get a Facsimile Object to assuage your loss.]

Previously, related: Édouard Manet Facsimile Object (M1) “Minnay”;
Édouard Manet Facsimile Objects (M2) “Bob” & (M3) “Souki”

Manet Cut Flowers

Manet’s White Lilacs, c 1882, would be 37.4 x 25 cm, from the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, as photographed and uploaded to wikimedia commons as lilia blanco by Sailko

I guess my reflexive response to a ravishing late Manet still life of flowers on social media is to hype it, and only then to wonder whether Manet really did paint to the edges in a way that cut his brushstrokes in half.

Reader, he did not.

Édouard Manet, die Fliederstrauß, c 1882, 54 x 42 cm, collection, Alte Nationalgalerie

In 2020 wikimedia superuser Sailko uploaded a 12mb photo they took in 2018 of the cropped hot center of Manet’s painting at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. What you lose in breadth is more than made up for by zooming into the detail of each brushstroke and hint of bare canvas in that vase. What’s most interesting is how Sailko’s crop propagates across the net, and the many wiki-scraping printed object providers out there. It’s enough to warm my facsimile objective heart. [s/o rg_bunny1 and jeanettehayes]

Wade Guyton Overprinted Manets

Wade Guyton, Galerie Matthiesen, Ausstellung, Edouard Manet, 1928, 6. Februar bis 18. März, Vol. II, 2023, (detail), lithograph on vintage book page, all images via Crousel

I’d low-key wanted to see this exhibition of Wade Guyton lithographs at Crousel when it was announced, and by the time it closed yesterday, several people who would know were reporting on its awesomeness. So the FOMO built to a high finish.

Continue reading “Wade Guyton Overprinted Manets”