It is easy to imagine the reactions of those who expected pictures
to be finely finished when we look at this candid portrait, boldly
painted in a sweeping and simplified style. This is the first work
in which Manet displays his strong and rapid touch and also his
first portrait of the model who was to pose for him regularly
until 1875 - for Luncheon on the Grass, Olympia, and Gare
Saint-Lazare.
In 1862 Victorine Louise Meurend was only twenty years
old, but she already had a certain gravity of expression. Tabarant
writes that she had "fine eyes, animated by a fresh and smiling
mouth. With that, the lithe body of a Parisian, delicate in every
detail, remarkable for the flowing line of the hips and the supple
grace of the bust." Where did she come from ? Theodore Duret
claims that Manet met her at the Palais de Justice, where he "had
been struck by her unusual appearance." She lived in the rue
Maitre-Albert in the fifth arrondissement, where the painter had
the proofs of his first etchings printed. She played the guitar
and sketched.
In this portrait, Manet shows her thoughtful, if a
trifle limited. She has the red-gold hair of a Venetian that
reappears in Luncheon on
the Grass and Olympia, where the
breadth of the face is accentuated even more. She wears about her
neck the black ribbon that Manet often placed on his models. The
black accents on the collar are still a little awkward and heavy
in this experimental study; very shortly Manet was to learn to
handle his shadows with great mastery.
MOST POPULAR PAINTINGS
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere
Olympia
Luncheon on the Grass
The Fifer
The Railway
The Balcony
Music in the Tuileries Garden
Self Portrait with Palette