Painted in the winter of 1882–83, this study of the baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure was one of three executed in preparation for a portrait left unfinished when Manet died a few months later. Earlier, Manet had painted a full-length portrait of the singer in the role of Hamlet (Folkwang Museum, Essen), which drew adverse criticism when it was shown in the Salon of 1877. Faure, who owned many paintings by Manet, refused to accept it.

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