Self-Portrait with Palette (Manet)
Encyclopedia
Self-Portrait with Palette (French: Autoportrait à la palette) is an 1878–79 painting by the French artist Édouard Manet
. This late, impressionistic
work is one of his two self-portraits. Velasquez's self-portrait in Las Meninas
was a particular inspiration for Manet's painting, which despite its allusion to the previous artist's work is very modern in its focus upon the personality of the artist and loose paint handling.
A long series of prominent collectors have owned this painting, which was sold for a $29.48 million at Sotheby's on 22 June 2010.
Because Manet was almost certainly not left-handed, the painting is a mirror image
.
As has been established by X-ray analysis, Manet painted his Self-Portrait with Palette over a portrait in profile of his wife Suzanne Manet. In this picture she was depicted in a pose similar to that in the painting Madame Manet at the Piano (1868, Musée d'Orsay).
The dating of the painting goes back to Manet's friend Théodore Duret
, who asked Léon Leenhof, the son of Manet's wife, about it after the painter's death. Moreover, Manet had used the same suit jacket that he wore in Self-Portrait with Palette in the painting At "Père Lathuille" (also from 1879), for the depiction of the son of the restaurant's owner.
Las Meninas
, in which Diego Velázquez
depicted himself in a similar pose with brush and palette, is considered an important precedent for the Self-Portrait with Palette. There the painter stands almost in the background of his studio, while his models, the five-year-old Margarita Teresa of Spain and her servants, occupy the foreground. From here Manet appropriated the pose of the painter and his equipment, but as opposed to Velázquez
, he makes himself the thematic center of the image. At the same time, however, he is working on a painting, but leaves its subject matter, as well as his surroundings, to the imagination of the viewer. Manet himself between 1865 and 1870 portrayed Velazquez in a studio scene in which the Spanish painter is posed similarly to his self-portrait.
As a practical matter painters did not and do not wear formal dress while working, as it could far too easily be ruined by oil paint. Manet's depiction of himself as a painter in stylish city-going clothes has various precedents. Already Velazquez had shown himself in costly garb that would be appropriate for a courtier. In 1870 Manet had sat for the painter Henri Fantin-Latour
in the painting Un atelier aux Batignolles while similarly well-dressed. His wearing of a hat indoors also has a direct precedent. Renoir
had depicted Monet in 1875, with suit, hat and all. Just as Velazquez had used his clothes to underscore his proximity to the Spanish court, Manet's clothing shows his role as a stylish and successful Parisian artist, "who not only in his artistic posture, but also in his appearance is quintessentially the painter of modern life, of Baudelaire's description."
The unfinished right hand with the paintbrush is conspicuous in the painting. Victor Stoichiţă perceives this as Manet's intention and interprets it thusly: "because it is an act of painting that is depicted here, it turns painting around itself like a whirlwind" Françoise Cachin explains it as a way of concentrating the light and the attention of the viewer upon the more important aspects of the painting. Manet's wife Suzanne, however, described this painting and the Self-Portrait with Cap (1878–79) as sketches.
The full-length Self-Portrait with Cap (1878–79) is the only other pure self-portrait by Manet. The chronological proximity of the two paintings implies a direct connection between them; accordingly, they have been considered as two stages of a work in progress. In the first painting, Self-Portrait with Palette, the act of painting itself is depicted by the blurred gestures of the painter. In the latter work, the painter is shown with the clear detachment of a viewer, rather than a creator. To Éric Darragon it appears that the painter has "stepped back, to evaluate his painting."
After Manet's death the two pictures hung on either side of the 1877 painting Jean-Baptiste Faure
in the Role of Hamlet. From this arrangement Stoichiţă concludes that the choice of this Spanish influenced painting was meant to evoke a renewed parallel to Velazquez. Another message derived from the juxtaposition is that the self-portraits could almost be read as Manet in the Role of Manet. Juliet Wilson-Bareau, however, points out that Manet probably did not intend the pictures to be so displayed, as it was Léon Leenhoff who had the pictures framed and hung them on either side of the Faure portrait.
wrote: "This work, like the other efforts of the artist, are spoiled by a certain coldness. The artist's hand moves with too much fire, painting so freely here, that it is impossible for the painter to seriously focus upon himself as an object." On the other hand, Theodore Reff in 1982 emphasized the meaning of Manet's decision to approach self-portraiture, which he had never before attempted, at the high point of his career. The chosen clothes, in both case stylish suits, give the impression that Manet considered himself not only a successful artist but a successful figure in society: the paintings are a record of this success.
Wilson-Bareau proposes an alternate explanation for the origin of the self-portraits. When the art historian and Manet biographer Adolphe Tabarant asked Manet's stepson Léon Leenhoff about the point in time at which Manet had been stricken with Syphilis, Leenhoff gave 1879 as an answer, which would explain why Manet, who had never before in his life painted a self-portrait, had painted two within that year. It would seem that with the reality of death right before his eyes, he felt a need to come to terms with himself.
The nephew of the artist, Edouard Vibert (1867–1899) finished shortly before his death a series of copies of various Manet paintings for Madame Manet as mementos of the paintings that had had to be sold after the death of the artist. Around the turn of the 20th century a copy of the Self-Portrait with Palette was attested that was ascribed to Vibert.
in a letter from May 10 of that year stated that neither Jean-Baptiste Faure
nor Auguste Pellerin
were interested in the paintings.
On 2 February 1899, Suzanne Manet bequeathed the pictures to her sister Martina Leenhoff, probably with the intention of aiding her during financial difficulties. That year, Madame Manet and Proust renewed their efforts to sell the paintings. This time the art dealers Hermann Paechter and Ambroise Vollard
expressed interest. Later that year Paechter obtained the paintings at the price of 6,000 Francs for the Self-Portrait with Cap and only 1,000 for Self-Portrait with Palette. In Théodore Duret's 1902 exhibit catalog the picture is listed as the property of Pellerin.
Shortly after, the Self-Portrait with Cap went to the collection of Max Linde
in Lübeck. In addition to being an art collector Linde was also an ophthalmologist
, with Edvard Munch
among his patients. Eventually the Norwegian artist was inspired by the Manet to paint various other full length portraits, including a 1909 portrait of his psychiatrist Daniel Jacobson, which came close to the Manet in style and feeling.
In May 1910, the Self-Portrait with Palette appeared in an exhibit at the gallery of Georges Petit
in Paris, where it was labeled as on loan from the widow of the Marquis Etienne de Ganay. Just a month later it was shown in an exhibit by the gallery owners Paul Durand-Ruel
, Bernheim-Jeune and Paul Cassirer
together with all other Manet paintings that had previously been owned by Pellerin. Pellerin had sold his collection to the dealers, with the exception of the Self-Portrait with Palette, which he had sold to Madame de Ganay immediately beforehand. Ganay owned the painting through the 1920s; by 1931 it was in the collection of the Berlin bank president Jakob Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt immigrated to New York City in 1936, taking his collection with him, and died there in 1955. In 1958 the painting was bought by J. Summers for 65,000.
Later the collector couple John and Frances L. Loeb from New York acquired the painting for $176,800. At the auction of the Loeb collection on 12 May 1997 the painting was sold for $18.7 million to an anonymous bidder. At that time it was the second highest price ever paid for a work by Manet. Shortly thereafter the new owner was revealed to be the Casino developer Steve Wynn, as he displayed the picture in his hotel in the Hotel Bellagio
and Wynn Las Vegas
. In March 2005, it was privately sold to Steven A. Cohen
. The price is estimated to have been between $35 million to $40 million.
On 7 May 2010, it was announced that Cohen had decided to auction the painting at Sotheby's
on 22 June 2010. The price was expected to be between $30.1 and $45.2 million. These expectations were not met, however, and the painting sold for £22,441,250 ($29.48 million) to the New York collector Franck Giraud. The price was nevertheless a record for a Manet painting.
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
. This late, impressionistic
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
work is one of his two self-portraits. Velasquez's self-portrait in Las Meninas
Las Meninas
Las Meninas is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The work's complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, and creates an uncertain relationship between the viewer and the figures...
was a particular inspiration for Manet's painting, which despite its allusion to the previous artist's work is very modern in its focus upon the personality of the artist and loose paint handling.
A long series of prominent collectors have owned this painting, which was sold for a $29.48 million at Sotheby's on 22 June 2010.
Description
The 83 × 67 cm (33 × 26 in) painting shows a half-length portrait of the painter Édouard Manet. In this self-portrait as painter he depicted himself as a stylish Boulevardier in front of a dark background. The depicted wears a black top hat and a brown jacket, under which is a white shirt, of which only the collar can be seen. The neckline of the suit jacket covers a black silk tie, which is affixed by a tie pin. In the right, only vaguely depicted hand he holds a long wooden brush with red paint on the tip; the left hand holds a painting palette with about three more brushes. No further accessories are shown. The figure is lit from the left, by which the shadows beneath the left arm and the right half of the face are created. His pose is slightly turned to the right, so that the right half of the body is darker than the forward, left half. The painter's gaze is directed forwards, at the viewer.Because Manet was almost certainly not left-handed, the painting is a mirror image
Mirror image
A mirror image is a reflected duplication of an object that appears identical but reversed. As an optical effect it results from reflection off of substances such as a mirror or water. It is also a concept in geometry and can be used as a conceptualization process for 3-D structures...
.
Origin and meaning
The dating of the painting goes back to Manet's friend Théodore Duret
Théodore Duret
Théodore Duret was a French journalist, author and art critic. He was one of the first advocates of impressionism, and many of his writings are devoted to explaining to the 19th century public how the new trends in painting were a continuation of traditions in western painting.- References...
, who asked Léon Leenhof, the son of Manet's wife, about it after the painter's death. Moreover, Manet had used the same suit jacket that he wore in Self-Portrait with Palette in the painting At "Père Lathuille" (also from 1879), for the depiction of the son of the restaurant's owner.
Las Meninas
Las Meninas
Las Meninas is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The work's complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, and creates an uncertain relationship between the viewer and the figures...
, in which Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
depicted himself in a similar pose with brush and palette, is considered an important precedent for the Self-Portrait with Palette. There the painter stands almost in the background of his studio, while his models, the five-year-old Margarita Teresa of Spain and her servants, occupy the foreground. From here Manet appropriated the pose of the painter and his equipment, but as opposed to Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, he makes himself the thematic center of the image. At the same time, however, he is working on a painting, but leaves its subject matter, as well as his surroundings, to the imagination of the viewer. Manet himself between 1865 and 1870 portrayed Velazquez in a studio scene in which the Spanish painter is posed similarly to his self-portrait.
As a practical matter painters did not and do not wear formal dress while working, as it could far too easily be ruined by oil paint. Manet's depiction of himself as a painter in stylish city-going clothes has various precedents. Already Velazquez had shown himself in costly garb that would be appropriate for a courtier. In 1870 Manet had sat for the painter Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers.-Biography:...
in the painting Un atelier aux Batignolles while similarly well-dressed. His wearing of a hat indoors also has a direct precedent. Renoir
Renoir
-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
had depicted Monet in 1875, with suit, hat and all. Just as Velazquez had used his clothes to underscore his proximity to the Spanish court, Manet's clothing shows his role as a stylish and successful Parisian artist, "who not only in his artistic posture, but also in his appearance is quintessentially the painter of modern life, of Baudelaire's description."
The unfinished right hand with the paintbrush is conspicuous in the painting. Victor Stoichiţă perceives this as Manet's intention and interprets it thusly: "because it is an act of painting that is depicted here, it turns painting around itself like a whirlwind" Françoise Cachin explains it as a way of concentrating the light and the attention of the viewer upon the more important aspects of the painting. Manet's wife Suzanne, however, described this painting and the Self-Portrait with Cap (1878–79) as sketches.
Position in the Oeuvre
The Self-Portrait with Palette is the only self-portrait by Manet in which he depicted himself as an artist. He depicted himself in several other paintings, but almost always as one of many figures in a large composition. These works include Fishing (1860/61), Music in the Tuileries (1862), and The Ball of the Opera (1873).The full-length Self-Portrait with Cap (1878–79) is the only other pure self-portrait by Manet. The chronological proximity of the two paintings implies a direct connection between them; accordingly, they have been considered as two stages of a work in progress. In the first painting, Self-Portrait with Palette, the act of painting itself is depicted by the blurred gestures of the painter. In the latter work, the painter is shown with the clear detachment of a viewer, rather than a creator. To Éric Darragon it appears that the painter has "stepped back, to evaluate his painting."
After Manet's death the two pictures hung on either side of the 1877 painting Jean-Baptiste Faure
Jean-Baptiste Faure
Jean-Baptiste Faure was a celebrated French operatic baritone and an art collector of great significance. He also composed a number of classical songs.-Singing career:Faure was born in Moulins...
in the Role of Hamlet. From this arrangement Stoichiţă concludes that the choice of this Spanish influenced painting was meant to evoke a renewed parallel to Velazquez. Another message derived from the juxtaposition is that the self-portraits could almost be read as Manet in the Role of Manet. Juliet Wilson-Bareau, however, points out that Manet probably did not intend the pictures to be so displayed, as it was Léon Leenhoff who had the pictures framed and hung them on either side of the Faure portrait.
Reception
The painting was often considered to be of lesser artistic value than Manet's other works. In 1926 the critic Étienne Moreau-NélatonÉtienne Moreau-Nélaton
Adolphe Étienne Auguste Moreau-Nélaton was a French painter, art collector and art historian. His large collection is today held in its entirety by National French museums.-Family:...
wrote: "This work, like the other efforts of the artist, are spoiled by a certain coldness. The artist's hand moves with too much fire, painting so freely here, that it is impossible for the painter to seriously focus upon himself as an object." On the other hand, Theodore Reff in 1982 emphasized the meaning of Manet's decision to approach self-portraiture, which he had never before attempted, at the high point of his career. The chosen clothes, in both case stylish suits, give the impression that Manet considered himself not only a successful artist but a successful figure in society: the paintings are a record of this success.
Wilson-Bareau proposes an alternate explanation for the origin of the self-portraits. When the art historian and Manet biographer Adolphe Tabarant asked Manet's stepson Léon Leenhoff about the point in time at which Manet had been stricken with Syphilis, Leenhoff gave 1879 as an answer, which would explain why Manet, who had never before in his life painted a self-portrait, had painted two within that year. It would seem that with the reality of death right before his eyes, he felt a need to come to terms with himself.
The nephew of the artist, Edouard Vibert (1867–1899) finished shortly before his death a series of copies of various Manet paintings for Madame Manet as mementos of the paintings that had had to be sold after the death of the artist. Around the turn of the 20th century a copy of the Self-Portrait with Palette was attested that was ascribed to Vibert.
Provenance
The Self-Portrait with Palette was not sold during Manet's lifetime and after his death was held by his widow. Nor were either of the self-portraits sold in the 1884 estate sale. Manet's widow does not appear to have wanted to sell them until 1897, as Antonin ProustAntonin Proust
Antonin Proust was a French journalist and politician.Antonin Proust was born at Niort, Deux-Sèvres. In 1864 he founded an anti-imperial journal, La Semaine hebdomadaire which appeared in Brussels...
in a letter from May 10 of that year stated that neither Jean-Baptiste Faure
Jean-Baptiste Faure
Jean-Baptiste Faure was a celebrated French operatic baritone and an art collector of great significance. He also composed a number of classical songs.-Singing career:Faure was born in Moulins...
nor Auguste Pellerin
Auguste Pellerin
Auguste Pellerin was a french entrepeneur and art collector. He was one of the most important collectors of the works of Édouard Manet and Paul Cézanne at the beginning of the 20th century....
were interested in the paintings.
On 2 February 1899, Suzanne Manet bequeathed the pictures to her sister Martina Leenhoff, probably with the intention of aiding her during financial difficulties. That year, Madame Manet and Proust renewed their efforts to sell the paintings. This time the art dealers Hermann Paechter and Ambroise Vollard
Ambroise Vollard
Ambroise Vollard is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century...
expressed interest. Later that year Paechter obtained the paintings at the price of 6,000 Francs for the Self-Portrait with Cap and only 1,000 for Self-Portrait with Palette. In Théodore Duret's 1902 exhibit catalog the picture is listed as the property of Pellerin.
Shortly after, the Self-Portrait with Cap went to the collection of Max Linde
Max Linde
Max Linde was an ophthalmologist who is best known as a patron and art collector of the early 20th century. He was an important patron of the painter Edvard Munch, among others.-Further reading:...
in Lübeck. In addition to being an art collector Linde was also an ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
, with Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
among his patients. Eventually the Norwegian artist was inspired by the Manet to paint various other full length portraits, including a 1909 portrait of his psychiatrist Daniel Jacobson, which came close to the Manet in style and feeling.
In May 1910, the Self-Portrait with Palette appeared in an exhibit at the gallery of Georges Petit
Georges Petit
Georges Petit was a French art dealer, a key figure in the Paris art world and an important promoter and cultivator of Impressionist artists.-Early career:...
in Paris, where it was labeled as on loan from the widow of the Marquis Etienne de Ganay. Just a month later it was shown in an exhibit by the gallery owners Paul Durand-Ruel
Paul Durand-Ruel
Paul Durand-Ruel was a French art dealer who is associated with the Impressionists. He was one of the first modern art dealers who provided support to his painters with stipends and solo exhibitions....
, Bernheim-Jeune and Paul Cassirer
Paul Cassirer
Paul Cassirer was a German art dealer and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the Berlin Secession and of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, in particular that of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne.- Starting out :Paul Cassirer started out as...
together with all other Manet paintings that had previously been owned by Pellerin. Pellerin had sold his collection to the dealers, with the exception of the Self-Portrait with Palette, which he had sold to Madame de Ganay immediately beforehand. Ganay owned the painting through the 1920s; by 1931 it was in the collection of the Berlin bank president Jakob Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt immigrated to New York City in 1936, taking his collection with him, and died there in 1955. In 1958 the painting was bought by J. Summers for 65,000.
Later the collector couple John and Frances L. Loeb from New York acquired the painting for $176,800. At the auction of the Loeb collection on 12 May 1997 the painting was sold for $18.7 million to an anonymous bidder. At that time it was the second highest price ever paid for a work by Manet. Shortly thereafter the new owner was revealed to be the Casino developer Steve Wynn, as he displayed the picture in his hotel in the Hotel Bellagio
Bellagio (hotel and casino)
Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.Inspired by the...
and Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...
. In March 2005, it was privately sold to Steven A. Cohen
Steven A. Cohen
Steven "Steve" A. Cohen is an American hedge fund manager. He is the founder of SAC Capital Advisors, a Stamford, Connecticut-based hedge fund focusing primarily on equity market strategies....
. The price is estimated to have been between $35 million to $40 million.
On 7 May 2010, it was announced that Cohen had decided to auction the painting at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
on 22 June 2010. The price was expected to be between $30.1 and $45.2 million. These expectations were not met, however, and the painting sold for £22,441,250 ($29.48 million) to the New York collector Franck Giraud. The price was nevertheless a record for a Manet painting.