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.
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Title:The Spanish Singer
Artist:Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris)
Date:1860
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:58 x 45 in. (147.3 x 114.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of William Church Osborn, 1949
Accession Number:49.58.2
Inscription: Signed and dated (right, on bench): ed. Manet 1860
the artist, Paris (1860–72; on deposit with Théodore Duret, Paris, September 1870–1871; sold January 1872 for Fr 3,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1872–73; stock no. 934; sold January 3, 1873 for Fr 7,000 to Faure]; Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris (1873–1906; on deposit with Durand-Ruel, Paris, January 20, 1906 [date book no. L.10909]; sold April 17, 1906 for Fr 20,000 to Durand-Ruel; inv. 1902, no. 29); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1906–7; stock no. 8136; sold May 2, 1907 for Fr 150,000 to Osborn]; William Church Osborn, New York (1907–49)
Paris. Salon. May 1–?, 1861, no. 2098 (as "Espagnol jouant de la guitare").
Paris. Galerie Martinet. October 1–15, 1861, no cat. number [see Leenhoff 1883].
Paris. Avenue de l'Alma. "Tableaux de M. Édouard Manet," May 1867, no. 3 (as "Le Chanteur espagnol").
Marseilles. Société artistique des Bouches-du-Rhône. December 1868–?, no catalogue? [see Manet 1869].
Munich. Königlichen Glaspalaste. "I. Internationale Kunstausstellung," July 20–October 31, 1869, no. 1384 (as "Spanischer Sänger").
London. Durand-Ruel. "Fourth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists," Summer 1872, no. 38 [see Cooper 1954].
Paris. École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition des œuvres de Édouard Manet," January 6–28, 1884, no. 8 (lent by J. B. Faure).
Paris. Exposition Internationale Universelle. "Exposition centennale de l'art français (1789–1889)," May–November 1889, no. 486.
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Exposition de 24 tableaux et aquarelles par Manet formant la collection Faure," March 1–31, 1906, no. 7.
New York. Durand-Ruel. "Loan Exhibition: Paintings by Édouard Manet, 1832–1883," November 29–December 13, 1913, no. 3.
New York. Durand-Ruel. "Loan Exhibition of French Masterpieces of the Late XIX Century," March 20–April 10, 1928, no. 10 (lent anonymously).
New York. Durand-Ruel. "Important Paintings by Great French Masters of the Nineteenth-century," February 12–March 10, 1934, no. 30 (lent anonymously).
New York. Century Club. "French Masterpieces of the Nineteenth Century," January 11–February 10, 1936, no. 10 (lent by William Church Osborn).
New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc. "Édouard Manet, 1832–1883," March 19–April 17, 1937, no. 3 (lent by Mr. and Mrs. William Church Osborn).
New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European & American Paintings, 1500–1900," May–October 1940, no. 283 (lent by William Church Osborn).
New York. M. Knoedler & Co. "Loan Exhibition in Honour of Royal Cortissoz," December 1–20, 1941, no. 22 (lent anonymously).
New York. Wildenstein. "Manet," February 26–April 3, 1948, no. 5 (lent by William Church Osborn).
Paris. Petit Palais. "Baudelaire," November 23, 1968–March 17, 1969, no. 579.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Impressionist Epoch," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Manet, 1832–1883," April 22–August 1, 1983, no. 10.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet, 1832–1883," September 10–November 27, 1983, no. 10.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," September 16, 2002–January 12, 2003, no. 72.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting," March 4–June 29, 2003, no. 131.
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Manet en el Prado," October 13, 2003–February 8, 2004, no. 25.
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne," June 23–November 12, 2006, no. 43.
Barcelona. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. "Grandes maestros de la pintura europea de The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York: De El Greco a Cézanne," December 1, 2006–March 4, 2007, no. 35.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Madrid. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "The Spanish Night: Flamenco, Avant-Garde and Popular Culture, 1865–1936," December 21, 2007–March 24, 2008, unnumbered cat. (p. 192).
Paris. Petit Palais. "The Spanish Night: Flamenco, Avant-Garde and Popular Culture, 1865–1936," July 5–August 31, 2008, unnumbered cat. (p. 192).
Kunsthalle Bremen. "Manet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration," October 23, 2021–February 27, 2022, no. 1.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet / Degas," September 24, 2023–January 7, 2024, unnumbered cat. (colorpl. 73).
Théophile Gautier. Le moniteur universel (July 3, 1861) [reprinted in Théophile Gautier, "Abécédaire du Salon de 1861," Paris, pp. 264–65], observes the influence of Velázquez and Goya and notes that it received an honorable mention at the Salon.
Louis Martinet. Courrier artistique (October 15, 1861), p. 34 [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967], lists it among pictures exhibited at 26 Boulevard des Italiens.
Léon Lagrange. "Salon de 1861 (suite)." Gazette des beaux-arts 11 (July 1861), p. 52.
Hector de Callias. "Salon de 1861: Les lettres K. L. M. N. O. P." L'artiste, n.s., 12 (July 1, 1861), p. 7.
Charles Baudelaire. "Peintres et aquafortistes." Le boulevard (September 14, 1862) [reprinted in Michel Florisoone, "Manet," Monaco, 1947, p. 113].
Paul Mantz. "Exposition du Boulevard des Italiens." Gazette des beaux-arts 14 (April 1863), p. 383.
Fernand Desnoyers. Salon des refusés: La peinture en 1863. Paris, 1863, pp. 40–42, calls it "Un joueur de guitare espagnol"; notes the strong influence of the picture on a younger generation of painters that included Legros, Fantin-Latour, and Carolus Duran; states that the painting inhabits a space between Realism and Romanticism and that Legros saw it as a conquest of Spain.
Edwin Edwards. Letter to Fantin-Latour. May 1865 [published in Robin Spencer, "Manet, Rossetti, London and Derby Day," Burlington Magazine 133 (April 1991), p. 234], states that he found Manet's canvas in the basement of the Royal Academy, but has seen only the back, where the title is given as something to do with a "guitarre" [sic].
Théodore Duret. Les peintres français en 1867. Paris, 1867, p. 111.
Emile Zola. "Une nouvelle manière en peinture: Édouard Manet." Revue du XIXe siècle, 8e sér., 4 (January 1, 1867), p. 55, comments on the ease with which the public accepted this picture.
E. Spuller. "M. Édouard Manet et sa peinture." Le nain jaune (June 9, 1867) [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].
Edouard Manet. Letter to a patron. [June] 10, [1867] [published and translated in Juliet Wilson-Bareau, "Manet by Himself," Boston, 1991, p. 46], mentions this work in discussing the etching after it.
Paul Mantz. "Salon de 1868, II." L'illustration (June 6, 1868) [translated and reprinted in George Heard Hamilton, "Manet and His Critics," New Haven, 1954, p. 120], comments that the colors and brushwork are reminiscent of the seventeenth-century Spanish masters.
Edouard Manet. Letter to Émile Zola. [early 1869] [published and translated in Juliet Wilson-Bareau, "Correspondence & Conversation, Manet by Himself: Paintings, Pastels, Prints & Drawings," London, 1991, p. 49], says that he sent this painting to the Société artistique des Bouches-du-Rhône.
Eugène Muntz. "Exposition internationale de Munich." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 2 (October 1869), p. 309.
F. A. Marion. Letter to Émile Zola. January 2, 1869 [published in C. Becker, ed. "Letters from Manet to Émile Zola," in "Manet, 1832–1883," New York, 1983, p. 522 n. 1, under no. 13], remarks on the "incredible" reception that this work had at the 1868 Marseilles exhibition.
F. A. Marion. Letter to Émile Zola. [before May 1869] [published in C. Becker, ed. "Letters from Manet to Émile Zola," in "Manet, 1832–1883," New York, 1983, p. 522 n. 1], comments that Manet had sent three works to the 1868 Marseilles exhibition, including this one, with a view to selling them, but that unfortunately the Société Artistique des Bouches-du-Rhône was not interested in purchasing any of them, and bought a Millet instead.
Théodore Duret. Letter to Édouard Manet. September 16, 1870 [published in A. Tabarant, "Manet et ses œuvres," Paris, 1947, p. 183], acknowledges that this work was deposited in his gallery for safe-keeping, but belongs to Manet.
Edouard Manet. Memorandum of Paintings Sold to Durand-Ruel. [January–February 1872] [published and translated in Ref. Wilson-Bareau 1991, p. 163], notes that Manet sold it to Durand-Ruel for Fr 3,000.
Jules Claretie. "Salon de 1872." Le soir (May 25, 1872) [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].
Armand Silvestre. Galerie Durand-Ruel, recueil d'estampes, gravées à l'eau-forte. Paris, 1873, pp. 24–25, pl. XIX (etching by Charles Courtry).
Paul Alexis. "Marbres et platres III Manet." Le Voltaire (July 25, 1879), p. ?.
Paul Alexis. "Manet." La revue moderne et naturaliste (1880), p. 292.
Léon Leenhoff. Agenda de Manet 1883. 1883 [published in Anthea Callen, "Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and their Contemporaries," Master's Thesis, University of Leicester, 1971, p. 625], lists it as being exhibited at the Galerie Martinet, October 1–15, 1861.
Gustave Goetschy. "Édouard Manet." La vie moderne, cinquième année, 19 (May 12, 1883), p. 306?.
Jacques de Biez. "Edouard Manet." Le Voltaire (May 2, 1883), p. 2, calls it “Guitarrero”; remarks that Manet definitively became the “master of himself” when he “gave up the outlined features and the black manner” of Spanish-inspired works like this one.
Edmond Bazire. Manet. Paris, 1884, pp. 20–22.
Jacques de Biez. Édouard Manet. Paris, 1884, pp. 34–35, 57.
Louis Gonse. "Manet." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 29 (February 1884), pp. 137–38.
Joséphin Péladan. "Le procédé de Manet d'après l'exposition de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts." L'artiste 1 (February 1884), pp. 106–7.
Frédéric Gilbert. "Manet jugé par Faure." Le Gaulois, 3rd ser., (January 6, 1884), p. 1, quotes Faure as saying that this picture was known as "le Gaucher" because the man plays the guitar with his left hand.
Paul Mantz. "Les oeuvres de Manet." Le temps (January 16, 1884), p. 3.
L. de Fourcaud. "Exposition centennale de l'art français. IV." Revue de l'exposition universelle de 1889. Ed. L. de Fourcaud and F.-G. Dumas. Paris, 1889, p. 51.
Armand Dayot. Un siècle d'art: Notes sur la peinture française à l'exposition centennale des beaux-arts. Paris, 1890, p. 114, as in the Faure collection.
Antonin Proust. "Édouard Manet: Souvenirs." La revue blanche 12 (February–May 1897), pp. 170, 422, gives Manet's account of the rapid painting of this picture and his comment that it had been pointed out to him that he had made the guitarist finger the instrument with the wrong hand; notes that it was hung very high at the Salon of 1861.
Antonin Proust. "L'art d'Édouard Manet." Le studio (January 15, 1901), pp. 72–73.
Théodore Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son œuvre. Paris, 1902, pp. 17–18, 196, no. 23, suggests that the model belonged to a troupe of dancers and musicians.
Hugo v. Tschudi. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1902, pp. 7, 16, ill., notes that it is reminiscent of Velàzquez's "Borrachos" (Museo del Prado, Madrid).
Notice sur la collection J.-B. Faure suivie du catalogue des tableaux formant cette collection. Paris, 1902, p. 19, no. 29.
Camille Mauclair. L'impressionnisme, son histoire, son esthétique, ses maitres. Paris, 1904, pp. 49, 65.
Paul Gsell. "Le classicisme de Manet." L'art et les artistes 2 (1905–6), p. 39, calls it his "Guitarero"; notes the inspiration of Ribera, Velázquez, and Goya as well as the approval of Ingres and Delacroix, who gave it an honorable mention at the Salon.
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manuscrit de l'œuvre d'Édouard Manet, peinture et pastels. [1906], unpaginated, no. 27 [Département des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris].
Camille de Sainte-Croix. "Édouard Manet." Portraits d'hier (December 15, 1909) [reprinted in T. A. Gronberg, "Manet: A Retrospective," as "A Collegian and Manet," New York, 1990, p. 137], remarks that he saw it at a sale of Manet's works.
Emil Waldmann. "Französische Bilder in amerikanischem Privatbesitz II." Kunst und Künstler 9 (December 1910), p. 134, notes that Manet used the same costume for "Mademoiselle V . . . in the Costume of an Espada" (MMA 29.100.53).
Paul Durand-Ruel. Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel. 1911–12 [published in Lionello Venturi, "Les archives de l'impressionnisme," Paris, 1939, vol. 2, p. 190, no. 23], gives provenance information.
G. J. Wolf. "Édouard Manet." Die Kunst für Alle 26 (January 1, 1911), p. 148, ill.
Jean Laran and Georges Le Bas. Manet. Paris, 1912, pp. 21–22, illustrates Manet's etching after it.
Julius Meier-Graefe. Édouard Manet. Munich, 1912, pp. 55, 310, pl. 29, asserts that the Spanish singer I. Bosch was the model for this work and also for a lithograph made by Manet's friend Bracquemond.
Théodore Duret. Manet and the French Impressionists. 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1910]. London, 1912, pp. 26, 33, 100, 222, no. 23, ill. opp. p. 26.
B[ryson]. B[urroughs]. "Recent Loans: Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 7 (August 1912), p. 152.
Antonin Proust. Edouard Manet. Paris, 1913, pp. 40–42, 144, mentions the watercolor of this subject.
Antonin Proust. "Erinnerungen an Édouard Manet." Kunst und Künstler 11 (March 1913), pp. 142–43, ill.
Emil Waldmann. "Leible und die Franzosen." Kunst und Künstler 12 (October 1913), p. 48.
Paul Jamot. "La collection Camondo au Musée du Louvre: Les peintures et les dessins (deuxième article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 4th ser., 11 (June 1914), p. 442.
Willard Huntington Wright. Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning. New York, 1915, p. 67, notes his shock at this work having received an honorable mention at the Salon of 1861; calls this Manet's "first Spanish adaptation," noting the influences of Goya, Murillo, Velázquez, and Courbet.
Jacques-Emile Blanche. De David à Degas. Paris, 1919, p. 150.
Waldemar George in André Fontainas and Louis Vauxcelles. Histoire générale de l'art français de la révolution à nos jours. Paris, 1922, pp. 113, 117, ill., sees the influence of Franz Hals.
Tristan Klingsor. "Manet." L'amour de l'art 3 (1922), pp. 258, 266, ill.
Emil Waldmann. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1923, pp. 24, 32, 109, ill.
Léon Rosenthal. "Manet et l'Espagne." Gazette des beaux-arts, 5th ser., 12 (1925), pp. 205, 208–9, 211, ill., notes that this work is reminiscent of Velàzquez rather than Goya.
J.-E. Blanche. Manet. London, 1925, fig. 6.
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même. Paris, 1926, vol. 1, pp. 31–33, fig. 21.
A. Tabarant. Manet, histoire catalographique. Paris, 1931, pp. 57–59, no. 34, notes that Manet made an etching and a watercolor after it.
Paul Jamot and Georges Wildenstein. Manet. Paris, 1932, vol. 1, pp. 21–22, 75, 89, 119, no. 40; vol. 2, fig. 36, state that the model was Jérôme Bosch, a dancer of the Spanish troupe of the Hippodrome.
"Notes biographiques." L'amour de l'art 13 (May 1932), p. 146.
Daniel Catton Rich. "The Spanish Background for Manet's Early Work." Parnassus 4 (February 1932), pp. 2–4, ill.
E. Lambert. "Manet et l'Espagne." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 9 (June 1933), pp. 374–75, fig. 15.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "Manet: First American Retrospective." Art News 35 (March 20, 1937), p. 14, calls it Caravaggesque.
John Rewald. "Durand-Ruel: 140 Years. One Man's Faith." Art News 42 (December 1–14, 1943), p. 24.
Preface by Edward Alden Jewell inFrench Impressionists and Their Contemporaries Represented in American Collections. New York, 1944, p. 141, ill. (color).
John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1946, pp. 44–45, 225, ill.
A. Tabarant. Manet et ses œuvres. 4th ed. (1st. ed. 1942). Paris, 1947, pp. 41–43, 102, 136, 195, 491, 512, 534, no. 38, fig. 38, suggests that the popularity of the guitarist Huerta inspired this picture for which Manet used a Sevillian as a model.
A Loan Exhibition of Manet. Exh. cat., Wildenstein & Co., Inc. New York, 1948, pp. 16–17, 35, 51, no. 5, pl. 5.
Douglas Cooper. Manet: Paintings. London, 1950, p. 4.
Joseph C. Sloane. French Painting Between the Past and the Present: Artists, Critics, and Traditions, from 1848 to 1870. [reprint 1973]. Princeton, 1951, pp. xii, 185–86, 192, fig. 55, discusses the contemporary critical reception of this painting.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 63.
George Heard Hamilton. Manet and His Critics. New Haven, 1954, pp. 24–31, 38, 58, 67, 96, 111, 114, 141, 155, 157, 264, pl. 3, reprints and discusses contemporary criticism of this painting.
Nils Gösta Sandblad. Manet: Three Studies in Artistic Conception. Lund, 1954, pp. 17, 46–47, refers to this as a portrait of the guitar-player Huerta.
J.-L. Vaudoyer. E. Manet. Paris, [1955], unpaginated, no. 8, ill. (overall and detail).
Georges Bataille. Manet: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1955, pp. 7, 10.
John Richardson. Édouard Manet: Paintings and Drawings. London, 1958, pp. 11–12, 16, 118, under no. 4, notes that the watercolor of this work could be either a sketch for the MMA picture or a reduction made after it, perhaps done in preparation for the engraving of the same size; mentions that the subject is derived from a print by Goya as well as Greuze's "Mandoliniste" (Musée du Louvre, Paris), which Manet probably knew from the engraving; contends that although the Andalusian guitarist Huerta inspired the composition, neither he nor Jérôme Bosch sat for the composition, but rather an anonymous Sevillian model who was either left-handed or unable to hold a guitar.
Jacques Lethève. Impressionnistes et symbolistes devant la presse. Paris, 1959, pp. 19, 22, 279 n. 3.
Henri Perruchot. La vie de Manet. Paris, 1959, pp. 98, 100, 102–4, 108, 122, 136, 187, 230, 326–27, cites contemporary criticism.
Jean Vallery-Radot. "Le dessin préparatoire de Greuze pour 'L'Oiseleur accordant sa guitare'." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 54 (October 1959), p. 215, finds the pose similar to that of Greuze's "L'oiseleur accordan sa guitare," which exists in three oil versions as well as in a drawing and engraving (figs. 1, 2).
John Richardson. Letter to M. Salinger. January 5, 1960, discusses the identity of the sitter.
John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. rev., enl. ed. New York, 1961, pp. 50–53, 187, 272, ill. (color).
Alan Bowness. "A Note on 'Manet's Compositional Difficulties'." Burlington Magazine 103 (June 1961), p. 277, observes that Manet underplays spatial recession in this picture by "creating a strong linear construction that brings everything near to the surface of the picture".
Pierre Courthion. Édouard Manet. New York, 1962, pp. 15, 64–65, ill. (color), notes that its paint application is reminiscent of Courbet.
Emanuel Winternitz. Memo to Mrs. Harris. February 13, 1962, remarks that what the guitarist "sings may not be proper but the playing method is okay. It is a realistic representation. He is a left-hander but that is not unusual".
A. Tabarant. La Vie artistique au temps de Baudelaire. 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1942). [Paris], 1963, pp. 282–83, 296, 313, 415.
Anne Coffin Hanson. Édouard Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1966, pp. 67, 69, 183, suggests that Greuze's mandolin player (Musée du Louvre, Paris) was not the only source for this picture, noting that Couture did a fife player that Manet must have known, and that Manet must also have been familiar with the engraving by David Teniers of a mandolin player sitting on a low horizontal block in a similar pose with a similar bench and jug in the background; agrees that this is not a portrait of Jérôme Bosch, noting that Manet made his lithograph portrait for a cover of instrumental music and that that portrait bears no resemblance to this picture.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 27–30, ill.
Joel Isaacson. "The Early Paintings of Claude Monet." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1967, pp. 80, 191, 289 n. 12.
Sandra Orienti inThe Complete Paintings of Manet. New York, 1967, pp. 89–90, no. 33, ill.
Alan Bowness. "Manet and Mallarmé." Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 62 (April–June 1967), p. 213, suggests that this was done deliberately to appeal to Théodore Gautier.
Margaretta M. Salinger. "Windows Open to Nature." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27 (Summer 1968), unpaginated, ill.
Pierre Schneider. The World of Manet, 1832–1883. New York, 1968, pp. 22–23.
Anne Coffin Hanson. "Manet's Subject Matter and a Source of Popular Imagery." Museum Studies 3 (1968), p. 66.
Herbert Cahoon. Letter to Margaretta M. Salinger. April 19, 1968, believes that the guitarist Bosch posed for this picture.
Beatrice Farwell. "Manet's 'Espada' and Marcantonio." Metropolitan Museum Journal 2 (1969), p. 206, notes that the bolero, hat, and headscarf worn by the model in this picture also appear in the MMA's "Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada" (29.100.53) and "Young Man in the Costume of a Majo" (29.100.54).
Joel Isaacson. Manet and Spain, Prints and Drawings. Exh. cat., The Museum of Art, The University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1969, pp. 3–4, 7, 11–12, 15, 27–28, under no. 9, discusses the etching and suggests another possible source for the composition in the engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi of "Jean-Philotée Achillini (Joueur de guitare)".
Alain De Leiris. The Drawings of Édouard Manet. Berkeley, 1969, pp. 11, 105, fig. 202, illustrates the oil, the watercolor, the etching, and the tracing and discusses the sequence in which they were done.
Kermit S. Champa and Kate H. Champa. German Painting of the Nineteenth Century. Exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, 1970, p. 59, notes that it was included in 1869 in the first international art exhibition in Munich.
E[gbert]. Haverkamp-Begemann and Anne-Marie S. Logan. European Drawings and Watercolors in the Yale University Art Gallery, 1500-1900. New Haven, 1970, vol. 1, p. 81.
Jean C. Harris. Édouard Manet: Graphic Works, A Definitive Catalogue Raisonné. New York, 1970, p. 51, illustrates the watercolor and four states of the etching; discusses the identification of the sitter, arguing that it is not Jérôme Bosch, but rather "an unidentified picturesque model" that Manet saw on the street.
Anthea Callen. "Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and their Contemporaries." Master's thesis, University of Leicester, 1971, pp. 226–26a, provides provenance information; includes a reprint of the catalogue of Faure's collection first published in 1902, where this work appears as no. 29; also reprints excerpts from the Manet documents in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, mentioning its exhibition at the Galerie Martinet in 1861 and its original sale to Durand-Ruel in 1872.
Julián Gállego. "Goya en el arte moderno." Goya (January–February 1971), pp. 256–57.
Anita Brookner. Greuze: The Rise and Fall of an Eighteenth-century Phenomenon. Greenwich, Conn., 1972, p. 97, agrees that Greuze's "Un oiseleur, qui, au retour de la chasse, accorde sa guitare" (National Museum, Warsaw) is a source for the pose of Manet's Spanish singer, commenting that Greuze seems to have derived it from Orazio Gentileschi's "Lute Player" (Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, Rome).
Germain Bazin. Édouard Manet. Milan, 1972, pp. 8, 14–15, 75, ill. [French ed., 1974].
Kermit Swiler Champa. Studies in Early Impressionism. New Haven, 1973, p. 52, fig. 72, comments that Renoir recalled this and other paintings by Manet of theatrical performers when he painted "The Clown" (Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo) in 1868.
Carl R. Baldwin. The Impressionist Epoch. Exh. brochure, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [New York], 1974, p. 12.
Anthea Callen. "Faure and Manet." Gazette des beaux-arts 83 (March 1974), pp. 162, 172–73, 176 n. 25, p. 178 n. 105, provides provenance information.
George Mauner. Manet, Peintre-Philosophe: A Study of the Painter's Themes. University Park, Pa., 1975, pp. 156–59, fig. 98, suggests that the model was a professional guitarist.
Denis Rouart and Daniel Wildenstein. Édouard Manet, catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1975, vol. 1, pp. 3, 11–12, 17, 24, 50–51, no. 32, ill.; vol. 2, p. 166, state that the identity of the model cannot be established with certainty.
Mario Amaya and Eric M. Zafran. Treasures from The Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Exh. cat., Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. Norfolk, Va., 1977, unpaginated, no. 46, notes its influence on Robert Henri's "Gypsy with Guitar" (Chrysler Museum, Norfolk).
Anne Coffin Hanson. Manet and the Modern Tradition. New Haven, 1977, pp. 22, 36, 59–60, 76, 159, 161, fig. 5.
Seymour Howard. "Early Manet and Artful Error: Foundations of Anti-Illusion in Modern Painting." Art Journal 37 (Fall 1977), p. 15.
Paul Abe Isaacs. "The Immobility of the Self in the Art of Edouard Manet: A Study with Special Emphasis on the Relationship of his Imagery to That of Gustave Flaubert and Stephane Mallarmé." PhD diss., Brown University, 1977, pp. 200, 202, 207–12, 214, 421, 520–21, 524, 530, 533–34, fig. III-11.
Alan Bowness inGustave Courbet, 1819–1877. Exh. cat., Grand Palais, Paris. London, 1978, p. 14 [French ed., 1977], suggests that Manet painted this work for Gautier.
David Alston. "What's in a Name? 'Olympia' and a Minor Parnassian." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 91 (April 1978), pp. 149, 153 n. 8.
Gabriel P. Weisberg inThe Other Nineteenth Century: Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Tanenbaum. Ed. Louise d'Argencourt and Douglas Druick. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa, 1978, p. 160, notes similarities to T. Ribot's "Mandolin Player" of 1862 (Tanenbaum collection).
Ian Dunlop. Degas. New York, 1979, p. 52.
Gabriel P. Weisberg. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830–1900. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 1980, p. 302.
Alain De Leiris. "Manet and El Greco: 'The Opera Ball'." Arts Magazine 55 (September 1980), p. 97.
Anne Distel. Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926). Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 1980, p. 45.
Theodore Reff. "Courbet and Manet." Arts Magazine 54 (March 1980), pp. 99, 102 nn. 15–16, fig. 1, compares the pose to that of Courbet's "Louis Gueymard as Robert le Diable" (19.84) and suggests a shared ultimate source for the pose in the ancient Greek statue "Nike Unfastening her Sandal" from the Temple of Athena Nike (Athens).
Charles F. Stuckey. "What's Wrong with this Picture?" Art in America 69 (September 1981), pp. 100–101, ill. (color), notes that the figure is playing an impossible chord on a guitar that is upside-down.
Robert F. Chirico. "Some Reflections on Sound and Silence in the Visual Arts." Arts Magazine 56 (April 1982), p. 102, fig. 5.
Raymond Cogniat and Michel Hoog. Manet. Paris, 1982, p. 13.
Charles S. Moffett inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 30, 33, 54, 63–67, 75, 106, 109–10, 203, no. 10, ill. (color, overall, detail, and x-ray detail) [French ed., Paris, pp. 29, 32, 54, 63–67, 75, 106, 110, 203, no. 10, ill.].
Françoise Cachin inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 47, 122, 146, 148, 280 [French ed., Paris].
Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Charles S. Moffett and Françoise Cachin. Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 68–70, 138 [French ed., Paris], discusses Manet's etching (no. 11, ill.) after this painting.
Pierre Daix. La vie de peintre d'Édouard Manet. Paris, 1983, pp. 63, 69, 95, 100.
Charles F. Stuckey. Manet. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 1983, p. 7, colorpl. 1, points out a series of incongruous details in the work, concluding that "the artist's rationale was to show the inherent paradox involved in realist painting".
Denys Sutton. "Édouard Manet: The Artist as Dandy." Apollo 118 (October 1983), p. 333, fig. 6.
Anne Coffin Hanson inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, p. 23 [French ed., "Manet, 1832–1883," Paris, p. 23].
Michel Melot inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, p. 37 [French ed., "Manet, 1832–1883," Paris, p. 36].
Charles F. Stuckey. "Manet Revised: Whodunit?" Art in America 71 (November 1983), p. 160, ill. (overall and x-radiograph), discusses changes to the positioning of the guitar and the figure's hand, visible in the x-radiograph.
Jean-Jacques Lévêque. Manet. Paris, 1983, p. 40.
Roy McMullen. Degas: His Life, Times, and Work. Boston, 1984, p. 96, calls its exhibition at the Salon of 1861 "an immediate critical, official, and popular success".
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 24–25, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Maureen C. O'Brien in Maureen C. O'Brien. In Support of Liberty: European Paintings at the 1883 Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition. Exh. cat., Parrish Art Museum. Southampton, N.Y., 1986, p. 176, under no. 73, notes that this painting was exhibited at the 1869 International Exhibition in Munich, which "marked a turning point in German appreciation of French realist painting"; compares it to Ribot's "The Mandolin Player" (collection Joey and Toby Tanenbaum, Toronto) and "The Scullion" (Art Institute of Chicago).
Kathleen Adler. Manet. Oxford, 1986, pp. 32–33, 77, 101, fig. 19 (color), quotes from contemporary reviews.
John House inThe Hidden Face of Manet: An Investigation of the Artist's Working Processes. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute Galleries. [London?], 1986, p. 6.
Juliet Wilson Bareau. The Hidden Face of Manet: An Investigation of the Artist's Working Processes. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute Galleries. [London?], 1986, p. 26.
Sjraar van Heutgen et al. inFranse meesters uit het Metropolitan Museum of Art: Realisten en Impressionisten. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1987, p. 15.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, pp. 6, 12, colorpl. 1.
Gary Tinterow et al. Capolavori impressionisti dei musei americani. Exh. cat., Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. Milan, 1987, p. 110.
Éric Darragon. Manet. Paris, 1989, pp. 54, 58–59.
Horst Keller. Edouard Manet. Munich, 1989, pp. 23–24, colorpl. 8, remarks that the sitter formed part of the Spanish troupe of Mariano Camprubi.
Anne Distel. Impressionism: The First Collectors. New York, 1990, pp. 77–78, affirms that Faure bought it on January 3, 1873 for Fr 7,000.
Françoise Cachin. Manet. [Paris], 1990, pp. 28, 156, colorpl. 4.
Kermit S. Champa. The Rise of Landscape Painting in France: Corot to Monet. Exh. cat., IBM Gallery. Manchester, N.H., 1991, p. 55 n. 59.
Éric Darragon. Manet. Paris, 1991, pp. 54, 62–63, 65, 79, 82, 101, 104, 130–31, 170, 207, 212, 268, 377, colorpls. 2 and 30 (overall and detail).
Juliet Wilson-Bareau. Manet by Himself, Correspondence & Conversation: Paintings, Pastels, Prints & Drawings. Boston, 1991, pp. 9–10, 15–16, 29, 43, 46, 49, 56, 163, 308 no. 56, colorpl. 56, calls it "The Spanish Singer / The Guitar Player;" associates it with Manet's comment to Proust (later published in Proust 1897) stating that the figure was inspired by the Spanish masters and Hals.
Robin Spencer. "Manet, Rossetti, London and Derby Day." Burlington Magazine 133 (April 1991), pp. 228–29, 233, fig. 1, identifies this picture as a work submitted by Manet to the Royal Academy exhibition of 1865, and accepted, but not exhibited because of lack of space, basing his argument on a letter from Edwin Edwards to Fantin-Latour of May 1865.
Sarah Carr-Gomm. Manet. London, 1992, pp. 10, 11, 44–45, 140, ill. (color).
Vivien Perutz. Édouard Manet. Lewisburg, Pa., 1993, pp. 76–78, 80–82, 84, 88, 115, 215 n. 62, colorpl. 9.
Alisa Luxenberg inSpain, Espagne, Spanien: Foreign Artists Discover Spain, 1800–1900. Ed. Suzanne L. Stratton. Exh. cat., Equitable Gallery. New York, 1993, p. 26.
Henri Loyrette inOrigins of Impressionism. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1994, pp. 302–3, 321, 323, 343, 395, 397–98, fig. 368 [French ed., Paris, pp. 302–3, 322, 324, 342, 392, 395–96, fig. 368].
Françoise Cachin. Manet: "J'ai fait ce que j'ai vu". Paris, 1994, pp. 30–31, 116, ill. (color) [English ed., 1995, pp. 30–32, 116, ill. (color)].
James H. Rubin. Manet's Silence and the Poetics of Bouquets. Cambridge, Mass., 1994, pp. 37, 45, 92, 99, 101, 169, 171, 176, 202, fig. 3, as "The Guitar Player"; compares the "arbitrary" choices to string and hold the guitar in reverse to Manet's shift of the stigmata in his "Dead Christ with Angels" (The Met 29.100.51).
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 442, ill. p. 443.
Michael Fried. Manet's Modernism: or, The Face of Painting in the 1860s. Chicago, 1996, pp. 1, 7, 36, 239, 276, 332, 473 n. 65, p. 534 n. 19, pp. 588–89 n. 193.
Hans Körner. Edouard Manet: Dandy, Flaneur, Maler. Munich, 1996, pp. 25–27, colorpl. 12.
Beth Archer Brombert. Édouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat. Boston, 1996, pp. 86, 88–89, 101, 119, 155, 309, 443.
Alan Krell. Manet and the Painters of Contemporary Life. London, 1996, pp. 9, 20, 77, 194, fig. 3.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau. Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. New Haven, 1998, pp. 15–16, observes that the cigarette butt on the floor beneath Manet's right foot in Fantin-Latour's "A Studio in the Batignolles" (Musée d'Orsay, Paris) recalls the stub in this picture.
Fred Licht. Manet. Milan, 1998, pp. 22–23, pl. 6.
Impressionist and Nineteenth Century Art. Christie's, New York. May 5–6, 1998, p. 113, fig. 1.
Richard Shone. The Janice H. Levin Collection of French Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2002, p. 89, fig. 43.
Peter Meller. "Manet in Italy: Some Newly Identified Sources for his Early Sketchbooks." Burlington Magazine 144 (February 2002), p. 102, relates it to sketch Manet made of Danaë from Perino del Vaga's "Jupiter and Danaë".
Carol Armstrong. Manet Manette. New Haven, 2002, pp. 11, 17, 28, 46, 72, 81–84, 94, 96–97, 99, 108, 139, 339 nn. 8, 21, p. 343 n. 64, fig. 38.
"Exposition: Manet / Vélázquez, la manière espagnole au XIXe siècle." 48/14: La revue du Musée d’Orsay no. 15 (Autumn 2002), p. 12, notes the importance of this and other MMA loans, which charted the artist’s Salon submissions before his visit to Spain.
Deborah L. Roldán in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, pp. 388–89, 394–96.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, pp. 217–20, 237, 250, 485–86, 501, 504–5, no. 131, ill. [French ed., "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," Paris, 2002, pp. 377, 379, no. 72, colorpl. 40].
Gary Tinterow in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, pp. 48, 51, 55, 475, fig. 1.45 (color).
Manuela B. Mena Marqués inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 20, 26, 150, 158–64, 183–84, 188, 190, 196, 203, 223, 252, 310, 353, 371, 374, 429, 432–34, 441–43, 448, 456, 463, no. 25, ill., and colorpl. 25.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 48–49, 55, 57, 384–85, 388.
Valeriano Bozal inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 86, 403–4.
Gudrun Mühle-Maurer inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 353, 495–96.
Stéphane Guégan in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, p. 201, colorpl. 9.1.
Françoise Cachin inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 31, 376.
Ángel González García inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manula B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 102–4, 111, 411, 416, fig. 44 (color detail).
Gilles Néret. Edouard Manet, 1832–1883: Le premier des modernes. Cologne, 2003, pp. 11, 17, ill. p. 7 (color).
Alisa Luxenberg. "Review of 'Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting' by Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre, with Deborah L. Roldán and Juliet Wilson-Bareau." Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 3 (Spring 2004) [http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/spring04/280-manetvelazquez-the-french-taste-for-spanish-painting-by-gary-tinterow-and-genevieve-lacambre-with-deborah-roldan-and-juliet-wilson-bareau-catalogue], suggests that the painting’s “harsh shadows, sooty highlights, pasty paint, and dirty fingernails” show the influence of the anonymous “Portrait of a Monk” (1633; Musée du Louvre, Paris)—previously attributed to Velázquez—which Manet was interested in copying; critiques the view expressed in Wilson-Bareau 2002 that Manet was attracted to the Louvre picture’s "clean unmixed colours".
Kathryn Calley Galitz inThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 2006, pp. 226–28, no. 43, ill. (color) [Catalan ed., Barcelona, 2006, pp. 124–25, no. 35, ill. (color) and on cover (color)].
Petra ten-Doesschate Chu. Nineteenth-Century European Art. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J., 2006, pp. 293–94, fig. 12-32.
Ross King. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism. New York, 2006, pp. 18–21, 36, 49, 55, 127, 152, 267, 270, 325.
John Elderfield. Manet and the Execution of Maximilian. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2006, pp. 34, 120, fig. 63 (color).
Therese Dolan. "'En garde': Manet's Portrait of Emilie Ambre in the Role of Bizet's 'Carmen'." Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 5 (Spring 2006) [https://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/spring06/en-garde-manets-portrait-of-emilie-ambre-in-the-role-of-bizets-carmen].
Xavier Bray inInspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past. Ed. Ann Dumas. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Denver, 2007, p. 112, fig. 42 (color).
Richard Rand inInspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past. Ed. Ann Dumas. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Denver, 2007, pp. 154, 155 n. 44, cites the influence of Fragonard's portrait of the guitarist La Bretèche.
Kathryn Calley Galitz inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 94, 266–67, no. 88, ill. (color and black and white).
Rudolf Koella inFantin-Latour: De la réalité au rêve. Exh. cat., Fondation de l'Hermitage. Lausanne, 2007, p. 176.
Sylvain Amic inGustave Courbet. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2008, p. 99 [French ed., Paris, 2007].
Christine I. Oaklander. "Jonathan Sturges, W. H. Osborn, and William Church Osborn: A Chapter in American Art Patronage." Metropolitan Museum Journal 43 (2008), pp. 188–89, 191, figs. 23 (color), 24 (installation photograph).
Claudia Einecke inRenoir in the 20th Century. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ostfildern, 2010, p. 194, under no. 14 [French ed., "Renoir au XXe siècle," Paris, 2009], calls Renoir's "Spanish Guitar Player" a direct reworking (in reverse) of this picture.
Scott C. Allan inThe Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). Ed. Laurence des Cars, Dominique de Font-Réaulx, and Edouard Papet. Exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Paris, 2010, p. 270, under no. 155, fig. 128 (color), compares it to Gérôme's "Bashi-Bazouk Singing" (1868; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore).
Anne Distel. Renoir. New York, 2010, p. 36, colorpl. 23.
Stéphane Guégan inBirth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay. Exh. cat., de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco, 2010, pp. 88–89, fig. 23 (color).
Alice Thomine-Berrada inBirth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay. Exh. cat., de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco, 2010, p. 240.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau inManet et le Paris moderne. Exh. cat., Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum. Tokyo, 2010, pp. 305–7, fig. M2 (color), notes that Alphonse Legros included The Met's picture behind Manet in his "Portrait of Edouard Manet" (1863, Petit Palais, Paris) as proof of Manet's success at the Salon in 1861 and that the figure's guitar and hat reappear in Manet's painting "Still Life—Guitar and Hat" (Musée Calvet, Avignon), which sat above the door of his studio on the rue Guyot.
Michel Melot inManet et le Paris moderne. Exh. cat., Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum. Tokyo, 2010, p. 314.
Laurence des Cars inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 46, 51.
Simon Kelly inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 60, 62, 68 nn. 38, 40, 48, p. 269.
Nancy Locke inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, p. 83 n. 38.
Stéphane Guégan inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 28, 31, 33, 132, 160 n. 20, p. 269, colorpl. 1.
Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 284–85.
MaryAnne Stevens inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, p. 25.
Stéphane Guégan inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, pp. 34–36, 38, 202 n. 5, fig. 18 (color), emphasizes that the picture records a modern performance.
Sarah Lea inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, pp. 167, 171, fig. 80, reproduces Manet's letter of September 16, 1870, to Duret asking him to store a group of paintings (including this one) during the siege.
Lawrence W. Nichols inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, pp. 66, 69.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau. "Edouard Manet dans ses ateliers." Ironie no. 161 (January/February 2012), unpaginated, states that Manet's move to a new studio in 1861 was probably due to the painting having received an honorable mention at the Paris Salon that year.
Therese Dolan inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, pp. 3–4, 154.
Suzanne Singletary inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, pp. 50–51, states that the "uneasy and idiosyncratic amalgam of realism and romanticism" found in the picture can be attributed to Manet's contact with Baudelaire.
Jane Mayo Roos inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, pp. 74, 77–80, 87–88, 91, 93 n. 6, fig. 4.1, discusses the painting's elements of masquerade, its seemingly improvisational production, and its conflation of past and present.
Robert Lethbridge inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, p. 101.
James A. Ganz in Johan Cederlund et al. Anders Zorn: Sweden's Master Painter. Exh. cat., Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco, 2013, p. 85, fig. 53 (color), compares the etched version of the composition to The Met's picture.
Bridget Alsdorf. Fellow Men: Fantin-Latour and the Problem of the Group in Nineteenth-Century French Painting. Princeton, 2013, p. 256 n. 85, notes that Manet and Fantin-Latour did not become friends until after Fantin visited Manet's studio to admire Manet's "Guitarero" (this work).
Stéphane Guégan inManet: Ritorno a Venezia. Ed. Stéphane Guégan. Exh. cat., Palazzo Ducale. Venice, 2013, pp. 124–26 n. 6, pp. 141, 143 n. 11, p. 268, compares its facture to that of the "Street Singer" (ca. 1862, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
Ton van Kempen and Nicoline van de Beek. Madame Manet: Muziek en Kunst in het Parijs van de Impressionisten. Culemborg, 2014, p. 145 n. 23.
Stéphane Guégan in Mary Morton and George T. M. Shackelford. Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2015, p. 102.
Roberta Crisci-Richardson. Mapping Degas: Real Spaces, Symbolic Spaces and Invented Spaces in the Life and Work of Edgar Degas (1834–1917). Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015, p. 159, compares the figure to that of Lorenzo Pagans in Degas's "Lorenzo Pagans and Auguste de Gas" (1871–72, Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Michel Hilaire inFrédéric Bazille (1841–1870) and the Birth of Impressionism. Ed. Michel Hilaire and Paul Perrin. Exh. cat., Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Paris, 2016, p. 233, under no. 30 [French ed., "Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870): La Jeunesse de l'impressionnisme"], notes that Jean-Frédéric Bazille admired this painting in his early years in Paris.
Ségolène Le Men and Sylvain Amic inScènes de la vie impressionniste: Manet, Renoir, Monet, Morisot . . . Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen. Paris, 2016, p. 25.
Monika Leonhardt inPraised and Ridiculed: French Painting 1820–1880. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Munich, 2017, p. 215.
Edouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, pp. 118, 171, 302, 305.
Gerhard Finckh inEdouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, ill. p. 18 (color).
Karin Westerwelle inEdouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, p. 63.
Pierre Bourdieu. Manet: A Symbolic Revolution. Cambridge, 2017, pp. 72–73, 81, 284, 292, 310, 312, 314, 330–31, 334, 416, 419, 438–40, 465, colorpl. 16, mistakenly states that Manet received a third-class medal at the Salon of 1866 for this painting.
Emily A. Beeny. "Manet's Boucher." Metropolitan Museum Journal 53 (2018), pp. 77, 80 n. 64.
Stéphane Guégan. Delacroix: Peindre contre l'oubli. Paris, 2018, p. 251.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau and Genevieve Westerby inManet Paintings and Works on Paper at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ed. Gloria Groom and Genevieve Westerby. Chicago, 2019, under nos. 2, 10–11 [https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140028], reproduce Durand-Ruel's stock book page for the picture from their 1868–73 stock book (Archives Durand-Ruel).
Emily A. Beeny inManet Paintings and Works on Paper at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ed. Gloria Groom and Genevieve Westerby. Chicago, 2019, under no. 14 [https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140044].
David Pullins. Manet: Three Paintings from the Norton Simon Museum. Exh. cat., Frick Collection. New York, 2019, pp. 18, 59 n. 15.
Scott Allan inManet and Modern Beauty: The Artist's Last Years. Ed. Scott Allan, Emily A. Beeny, and Gloria Groom. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Los Angeles, 2019, p. 39 n. 23.
Leah Lehmbeck inManet and Modern Beauty: The Artist's Last Years. Ed. Scott Allan, Emily A. Beeny, and Gloria Groom. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Los Angeles, 2019, p. 67.
Emily A. Beeny inManet and Modern Beauty: The Artist's Last Years. Ed. Scott Allan, Emily A. Beeny, and Gloria Groom. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Los Angeles, 2019, p. 110 n. 61.
Henri Loyrette inDegas à l'Opéra. Ed. Henri Loyrette. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2019, p. 17 [English ed., London, 2020].
Alejandro Vergara inVelázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Miradas afines. Ed. Alejandro Vergara. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2019, p. 21, as "Guitarrista".
Katharine Baetjer inEuropean Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. South Brisbane, 2021, p. 200, ill. (color).
Dorothee Hansen inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, pp. 19, 22 n. 22, pp. 90, 154, 158, 190, 202, 291, 302, ill. in no. 3 (color), as "The Spanish Singer (Le Guitarrero)"; notes that Manet's first acquaintance with Zacharie Astruc is documented to Pierre Prins's 1861 invitation to Astruc to celebrate the painting's Salon success with friends at the Café Guerbois.
Christine Demele inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, pp. 59, 65 n. 35.
Alice Gudera inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, pp. 67, 152, 170, 172, 174, 180, 182, no. 1, ill. p. 153 (color), as "The Spanish Singer (Le Guitarrero)"; notes that the green bench, a reference to Manet's studio, also appears in "Spanish Ballet" (1862, Phillips Collection, Washington), but that the two depictions on similar themes differ considerably; discusses how it differs in authenticity from Manet's lithograph "Plainte moresque—Moorish Lament" (1866, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris), made for the title page of a musical piece by Jaime Bosch.
Samuel Rodary inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, p. 117 n. 27.
Maren Hüppe inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, pp. 290, 292.
Gabriel Weisberg inThéodule Ribot (1823–1891): Une délicieuse obscurité. Exh. cat., Musée des Augustins, Toulouse. Paris, 2021, p. 30, fig. 10 (color).
Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2023, pp. 13, 295, colorpl. 73.
Samuel Rodary and Haley S. Pierce in Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2023, p. 277.
Manet/Degas. Ed. Laurence des Cars, Stéphane Guégan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2023, p. 258, colorpl. 33, call it "'Le Chanteur espagnol' (dit aussi 'Espagnol jouant de la guitare')".
Stéphane Guégan inManet/Degas. Ed. Laurence des Cars, Stéphane Guégan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2023, pp. 48–50, 90 n. 22, sees it as dually influenced by Couture and Courbet.
Stephan Wolohojian inManet/Degas. Ed. Laurence des Cars, Stéphane Guégan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2023, p. 182.
Ashley E. Dunn inManet/Degas. Ed. Laurence des Cars, Stéphane Guégan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2023, pp. 203, 205.
Samuel Rodary inManet/Degas. Ed. Laurence des Cars, Stéphane Guégan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2023, p. 232.
Ashley E. Dunn in Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2023, pp. 22–23, 301 n. 19.
Stephan Wolohojian in Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2023, p. 67.
Colin B. Bailey. "A New Language of Modern Art." New York Review of Books (December 21, 2023) [https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/12/21/a-new-language-of-modern-art-manet-degas].
Manet made an etching (the copper plate is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) after this painting; the Museum owns impressions of the second and fifth states. Ch. Decaux also made an etching after the painting.
Manet made a watercolor study in 1864 at the request of Antonin Proust. It was in the collection of Dr. H. Eiszler, Vienna, in 1931 (see Tabarant 1931).
Alphonse Legros (French, Dijon 1837–1911 London) included the painting in the background of his Portrait of Edouard Manet (1863, Petit Palais, Paris).
Former intern Wellington writes about his impression of Édouard Manet's The Spanish Singer, and discusses how art can be used to illustrate respect for and acceptance of other cultures.
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