The Spanish Singer

Edouard Manet French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 810

This painting, which reflects the Parisian taste for Spanish art and culture in the mid-nineteenth century, marked Manet’s debut at the Salon, in 1861, where it garnered his first popular and critical success and received an honorable mention from the jury. Though the picture was admired as a genuine portrayal of a Spanish musician, Manet did not disguise the fact that it was composed in a studio using a model and props. The left-handed singer holds a guitar strung for a right-handed player, and his fingering suggests that he was unfamiliar with the instrument.

#6144. The Spanish Singer, Part 1

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  1. 6144. The Spanish Singer, Part 1
  2. 6489. The Spanish Singer, Part 2
The Spanish Singer, Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris), Oil on canvas

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