Manet depicted model Victorine Meurent (1844–1927) in the guise of a male espada, or matador, borrowing her pose from a Renaissance print. Victorine’s shoes are unsuitable for bullfighting, and the pink cape that she flourishes is the wrong hue, but she carries off her role with panache. The backdrop reproduces a scene from Goya’s Tauromaquia series celebrating the feats of bullfighters. When this painting was exhibited at the infamous Salon des Refusés of 1863, a commentator noted, "Manet loves Spain, and his favorite master seems to be Goya, whose vivid and contrasting hues, whose free and fiery touch he imitates."
#6148. Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada
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Title:Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada
Artist:Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris)
Date:1862
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:65 x 50 1/4 in. (165.1 x 127.6 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number:29.100.53
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): éd. Manet. / 1862
the artist, Paris (1862–72; sold in January 1872 for Fr 3,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1872–74; stock no. 954, sold on February 16, 1874 for Fr 5,000 to Faure]; Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris (1874–98; deposited with Durand-Ruel, November 11, 1896–January 9, 1897 [deposit no. 9021, as "Femme torero"], and September 11, 1897–August 30, 1898 [deposit no. 9182, as "Toréador"]; sold on December 22, 1898 for Fr 45,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1898; sold on December 28, 1898 (Paris stock book), or January 21, 1899 (New York stock book); stock no. 4906, as "Femme toréador" to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1898; stock no. 2095, as "Mlle V. en costume d'espada"; sold on December 31, 1898, for $15,000, Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1898–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 146–47, ill.)
Paris. Palais des Champs-Élysées. "Salon des 'refusés'," May 15–?, 1863, no. 365 (as "Mademoiselle V. en costume d'espada") [see Wilson-Bareau 2003].
Paris. Avenue de l'Alma. "Tableaux de M. Édouard Manet," May 1867, no. 12 (as "Mlle V . . . en costume d'espada") [see Wilson-Bareau 2003].
Paris. École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition des œuvres de Édouard Manet," January 6–28, 1884, no. 15 (lent by M. Faure).
Paris. Durand-Ruel. 1896, no catalogue [see Natanson 1896].
Paris. Durand-Ruel. March 1898, no catalogue? [see Manet 1898].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 76 [2nd ed., 1958, no. 159].
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art. "One Hundred Years: French Painting, 1820–1920," March 31–April 28, 1935, no. 31.
Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. "Honderd Jaar Fransche Kunst," July 2–September 25, 1938, no. 139.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "The Classical Contribution to Western Civilization," December 15, 1948–January 31, 1949, not in catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Classical Contribution to Western Civilization," April 21–September 5, 1949, not in catalogue [possibly shown in New York].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 145.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Édouard Manet, 1832–1883," November 3–December 11, 1966, no. 50.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Édouard Manet, 1832–1883," January 13–February 19, 1967, no. 50.
Baltimore. Walters Art Gallery. "Old Mistresses: Women Artists of the Past," April 17–June 18, 1972, no catalogue.
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. 33.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet, 1832–1883," September 10–November 27, 1983, no. 33.
Leningrad [St. Petersburg]. State Hermitage Museum. "From Delacroix to Matisse," March 15–May 10, 1988, no. 13.
Moscow. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. "From Delacroix to Matisse," June 10–July 30, 1988, no. 13.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A344.
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869," April 19–August 8, 1994, no. 90.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Origins of Impressionism," September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 90.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," September 16, 2002–January 12, 2003, no. 78.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting," March 4–June 29, 2003, no. 139.
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Manet en el Prado," October 13, 2003–February 8, 2004, no. 39.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 57.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Zacharie Astruc. Le salon de 1863 (May 20, 1863), p. 16 [reprinted in Ref. Moreau-Nélaton 1926, vol. 1, pp. 51–52], comments that the figure is in a circus, praises it highly, and notes the influence of Giorgione.
[Jules] Castagnary. "Salon des refusés." L'artiste 4 (August 15, 1863), p. 76, criticizes Manet's modeling of forms in his three paintings on view in Paris 1863 and notes the artist's absence of conviction and lack of sincerity.
Fernand Desnoyers. Salon des refusés: La peinture en 1863. Paris, 1863, pp. 41–42, refers to it as a portrait of "Mademoiselle V. en costume d'Espada" and notes the influence of Spanish paintings.
Théophile Thoré. Salon de 1863: Les réprouvés. 1863 [reprinted in Ref. Tabarant 1931, p. 84], praises the drapery, but notes that the figure needs to have more expression and greater solidity.
W. Bürger [Théophile Thoré]. "Salon de 1863." L'indépendance belge (June 11, 1863), p. 424.
J[ohn]. Graham. "Un Etranger au Salon." Le Figaro (July 16, 1863), p. 3.
Adrien Paul. "Le Salon de 1863. (9e article) Les refusés." Le Siècle (July 19, 1863), p. 2.
H. de la Madelène. Le salon des refusés. Paris, 1863, p. 41 [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].
Arthur Stevens. Le Salon de 1863. Paris, 1866, pp. 196–97.
Emile Zola. "Une nouvelle manière en peinture: Édouard Manet." Revue du XIXe siècle, 8e sér., 4 (January 1, 1867), pp. 53, 56, notes that Manet did not travel to Spain until 1865, three years after this work was completed.
Emile Zola. Éd. Manet: Etude biographique et critique, accompagnée d'un portrait d'Éd. Manet par Bracquemond, et d'une eau-forte d'Éd. Manet, d'après "Olympia". Paris, 1867, p. 32.
Edouard Manet. Memorandum of Paintings Sold to Durand-Ruel. [January–February 1872] [published and translated in Ref. Wilson-Bareau 1991, p. 163], records that it was sold for Fr 4,000 to Durand-Ruel.
Jules Claretie. "Salon de 1872." Le soir (May 25, 1872) [see Ref. Rouart and Wildenstein 1975].
Emile Zola. Mes haines. Paris, 1880 [reprinted in "Manet: Raconté par lui-même et par ses amis," Geneva, 1945, p. 93], calls Manet's pictures the most remarkable at the 1863 Salon des refusés.
Edmond Bazire. Manet. Paris, 1884, p. 71.
Jacques de Biez. Édouard Manet. Paris, 1884, p. 30.
Joséphin Péladan. "Le procédé de Manet d'après l'exposition de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts." L'artiste 1 (February 1884), pp. 106–8, 116, praises it highly.
Paul Mantz. "Les oeuvres de Manet." Le temps (January 16, 1884), p. 3.
Thadée Natanson. "A propos de MM. Charles Cottet, Gauguin, Edouard Vuillard, et d'Edouard Manet." La revue blanche 11 (December 1, 1896), p. 518, notes that it was exhibited by Durand-Ruel in 1896.
Antonin Proust. "Édouard Manet: Souvenirs." La revue blanche 12 (February–May 1897), pp. 425–26, ill.
Julie Manet. Journal entry. March 19, 1898 [published in Julie Manet, "Journal (1893–1899): Sa jeunesse parmi les peintres impressionnistes et les hommes de lettres," Paris, 1979, p. 157], remarks that this picture was on exhibition at the Durand-Ruel galleries and describes it, noting that the same model was used for the "Olympia" and "Déjeuner sur l'herbe" (both Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Théodore Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son œuvre. Paris, 1902, pp. 200, 202, no. 37 [German ed., "Édouard Manet: Sein Leben und Seine Kunst," Berlin, 1910, pp. 254, 255–56, no. 37, ill. p. 65], identifies the model as Victorine Meurend.
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manuscrit de l'œuvre d'Édouard Manet, peinture et pastels. [1906], unpaginated, no. 48 [Département des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris].
Emil Waldmann. "Französische Bilder in Amerikanischem Privatbesitz, Part 1." Kunst und Künstler 9 (November 1910), ill. p. 92.
Emil Waldmann. "Französische Bilder in amerikanischem Privatbesitz II." Kunst und Künstler 9 (December 1910), p. 134, remarks that Manet used the same costume for "The Spanish Singer" (MMA 49.58.2).
Paul Durand-Ruel. Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel. 1911–12 [published in Lionello Venturi, "Les archives de l'impressionnisme," Paris, 1939, vol. 2, p. 191], calls it "Mademoiselle V. en toréador" and identifies it as a portrait of V. Brin.
Julius Meier-Graefe. Édouard Manet. Munich, 1912, pp. 64, 313, fig. 43, provides ex-collection information.
Théodore Duret. Manet and the French Impressionists. 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1910]. London, 1912, p. 224, no. 37.
Antonin Proust. Edouard Manet. Paris, 1913, p. 163, no. 15.
Jacques-Emile Blanche. De David à Degas. Paris, 1919, p. 151.
Tabarant. "Celle que fu 'l'Olympia'." Bulletin de la vie artistique 2 (May 15, 1921), p. 298, ill. p. 297, discusses Victorine Meurent as Manet's model, noting that her last name is spelled with a "t" not a "d".
Emil Waldmann. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1923, pp. 17–18, 29–32, 43, 45–46, ill., praises this picture and discusses Manet's visit to Madrid.
J.-E. Blanche. Manet. London, 1925, p. 26.
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même. Paris, 1926, vol. 1, pp. 48, 132, fig. 53; vol. 2, p. 127, no. 15, fig. 341, reprints the catalogue of the 1884 Manet posthumous exhibition and publishes a photograph of this picture hanging in the exhibition.
Paul Jamot. "Manet, 'Le fifre' et Victorine Meurend." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 51 (January–May 1927), pp. 36–38, discusses other works in which Manet dressed this model as a man.
Patrick Hoyan. "La collection Havemeyer au Metropolitan Museum." Beaux-arts, chronique des arts et de la curiosité 7 (January 1929), p. 6.
A. Tabarant. "Les Manet de la collection Havemeyer." La Renaissance 13 (February 1930), pp. 58, 63–64, ill., dates it 1861 and provides ex-collection information.
Charles V. Wheeler. Manet, An Essay. Washington, 1930, pp. 14–15, ill., dates it 1863 and gives a full account of Victorine Meurent's career.
L. E. Rowe. "A Study for the Havemeyer Picture." Bulletin of the Rhode Island School of Design 18 (1930), p. 26, ill. p. 27.
Frank Jewett Mather Jr. "The Havemeyer Pictures." The Arts 16 (March 1930), pp. 473, 477–78, ill., erroneously refers to the model as Virginie Meurand and remarks that the figure "executes a captivating but meaningless pirouette in a bull-ring that inspires no confidence".
A. Tabarant. Manet, histoire catalographique. Paris, 1931, pp. 85–86, no. 54, dates it to the last months of 1862 and remarks that Manet made an etching after it.
Paul Jamot and Georges Wildenstein. Manet. Paris, 1932, vol. 1, p. 121, no. 51; vol. 2, fig. 40.
"Notes biographiques." L'amour de l'art 13 (May 1932), p. 146.
Paul Colin. Édouard Manet. Paris, 1932, p. 73, fig. VII.
E. Lambert. "Manet et l'Espagne." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 9 (June 1933), p. 375, fig. 11.
Gotthard Jedlicka. Édouard Manet. Zürich, 1941, p. 78.
Marcel Guérin. L'œuvre gravé de Manet. Paris, 1944, unpaginated, under no. 32, publishes two states of Manet's etching after this picture.
John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1946, pp. 72, 75, 225–26, ill.
A. Tabarant. Manet et ses œuvres. 4th ed. (1st. ed. 1942). Paris, 1947, pp. 54–55, 62, 69, 73, 136, 491, 534, no. 55, fig. 55.
Michel Florisoone. Manet. Monaco, 1947, pp. XXIII, 20, ill.
Joseph C. Sloane. French Painting Between the Past and the Present: Artists, Critics, and Traditions, from 1848 to 1870. [reprint 1973]. Princeton, 1951, pp. 186, 194 n. 10, p. 196, fig. 60, discusses the contrast between Manet's intent and the painting's critical reception.
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. 155, 157, pl. 5.
Nils Gösta Sandblad. Manet: Three Studies in Artistic Conception. Lund, 1954, p. 83, notes the Japanese influence.
J.-L. Vaudoyer. E. Manet. Paris, [1955], unpaginated, no. 13, ill. (overall and detail).
Georges Bataille. Manet: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1955, pp. 8, 10, 46, ill. (color).
John Richardson. Édouard Manet: Paintings and Drawings. London, 1958, pp. 14, 119, no. 10, pl. 10, notes the influence of Goya's "Tauromaquia"; comments on the disjointed sense of scale.
Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1959, unpaginated, no. 53, ill. (color), calls it a "figure study".
Jacques Lethève. Impressionnistes et symbolistes devant la presse. Paris, 1959, p. 24.
Henri Perruchot. La vie de Manet. Paris, 1959, pp. 118, 121, ill.
François Daulte. "Le marchand des impressionnistes." L'Oeil no. 66 (June 1960), p. 58, reproduces the page from Durand-Ruel's account book where the purchase of this picture from Manet in January 1872 is recorded and the price paid is given as Fr 1,000.
Louisine W. Havemeyer. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. New York, 1961, pp. 224–25, erroneously suggests that it was painted after Manet returned from Spain; notes the influence of Velázquez.
John Rewald. The History of Impressionism. rev., enl. ed. New York, 1961, pp. 83, 85, 272, ill.
Alan Bowness. "A Note on 'Manet's Compositional Difficulties'." Burlington Magazine 103 (June 1961), p. 277.
Anne Coffin Hanson. "A Group of Marine Paintings by Manet." Art Bulletin 64 (December 1962), p. 332, compares its compositional strategy to Manet’s seascapes of 1864, including "The 'Kearsarge' at Boulogne" (MMA 1999.442).
Theodore Reff. "The Symbolism of Manet's Frontispiece Etchings." Burlington Magazine 104 (May 1962), p. 183.
Pierre Courthion. Édouard Manet. New York, 1962, ill. p. 17, erroneously dates it 1863.
A. Tabarant. La Vie artistique au temps de Baudelaire. 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1942). [Paris], 1963, pp. 312, 415, erroneously dates it 1863.
John Canaday. "Manet: The Reluctant Revolutionary." Horizon 6 (Winter 1964), pp. 89, 92, ill. (overall and color detail), dates it 1862; discusses the technique employed by Manet to paint the face.
Denys Sutton. "The Discerning Eye of Louisine Havemeyer." Apollo 82 (September 1965), p. 232.
Anne Coffin Hanson. Édouard Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1966, pp. 70–71, 73, no. 50, ill., relates the spatial organization to no. 27 of Goya's "Tauromaquia" series and notes that etching no. 5 provides the motif for the bull and picador in the middle ground of this picture.
George Heard Hamilton. "Is Manet Still 'Modern'?" Art News Annual 31 (1966), pp. 123, 126.
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. 33–35, ill., comment that it was made well before Manet's trip to Spain, although the background reflects the influence of Goya's prints.
Joel Isaacson. "The Early Paintings of Claude Monet." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1967, pp. 136, 140, 290 n. 14, p. 310 n. 9.
Sandra Orienti inThe Complete Paintings of Manet. New York, 1967, p. 91, no. 51, ill. p. 91 and colorpl. VII.
Alan Bowness. "Manet and Mallarmé." Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 62 (April–June 1967), pp. 213, 216, ill.
Martha Schmierer and Richard Verdi. "Thoughts Arising from the Philadelphia-Chicago Manet Exhibition." The Art Quarterly 30 (Fall–Winter 1967), pp. 240–41.
René Thomsen. "Note concernant la composition du tableau: 'Victorine Meurent en costume d'espada'." Bulletin de la société d'études pour la connaissance d'Édouard Manet no. 2 (January 1968), p. 28, ill., suggests that the composition is based on the laws of the Pythagorian Golden Rule.
Beatrice Farwell. "Manet's 'Espada' and Marcantonio." Metropolitan Museum Journal 2 (1969), pp. 197–207, ill., dates it to the early fall of 1862; suggests that Manet turned not only to Goya's "Tauromaquia" for sources, but also to prints by Marcantonio Raimondi, specifically figures of Temperance, after Raphael and Mantegna, and Justice, after Raphael; notes that the costume pictured was also used for "The Spanish Singer" (MMA 49.58.2) and "Young Man in the Costume of a Majo" (MMA 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, 9, 11, 14, 30–31, under nos. 15 and 16.
Alain De Leiris. The Drawings of Édouard Manet. Berkeley, 1969, pp. 12, 107, under no. 181, fig. 9, believes that Manet may have used a photograph of the oil to produce the watercolor (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence), where the image is reversed.
Michael Fried. "Manet's Sources." Artforum 7 (March 1969), pp. 52–53, 66, 69 nn. 19, 27, p. 71 n. 69, p. 75 nn. 146–47, 149, ill., suggests the influence of Watteau; proposes Velázaquez's equestrian portrait of the "Count of Olivares" (Museo del Prado, Madrid) as another influence; proposes that the lower portion of Victorine's body and the initial idea for the cape may have been based on an oil sketch by Rubens for a Fortune or Venus then in the Galerie Suermondt in Aix-la-Chapelle, noting that Rubens' painting was reproduced in 1860 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts.
Theodore Reff. "'Manet's Sources': A Critical Evaluation." Artforum 8 (September 1969), pp. 40, 45–47, ill. p. 41, finds Fried's connection of this picture to paintings by Rubens and Velázquez "unfortunate," and criticizes him for emphasizing Watteau and overlooking an "obvious" Italian source: Titian's "Girl with a Fruit Dish".
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, under no. 141.
Jean C. Harris. Édouard Manet: Graphic Works, A Definitive Catalogue Raisonné. New York, 1970, p. 112, under no. 35, discusses the etchings, commenting on the differences between them and the oil painting.
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. 233–34, 624, no. 361, reprints an excerpt from Manet documents in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, mentioning the picture's original sale to Durand-Ruel in 1872.
Julián Gállego. "Goya en el arte moderno." Goya (January–February 1971), p. 256.
Joel Isaacson. Monet: Le déjeuner sur l'herbe. New York, 1972, p. 80.
Germain Bazin. Édouard Manet. Milan, 1972, pp. 8, 76, ill. [French ed., 1974].
Kermit Swiler Champa. Studies in Early Impressionism. New Haven, 1973, pp. 4, 52, fig. 4, mentions its influence on Monet's figure compositions, especially the portrait of Dr. Leclenche (MMA 51.32); calls Renoir's "The Clown" (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo) an attempt to "paraphrase" Manet's painting.
John Rewald. "The Impressionist Brush." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 32, no. 3 (1973/1974), pp. 4, 6–7, no. 2, ill. (overall and color detail).
Carl R. Baldwin. The Impressionist Epoch. Exh. brochure, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [New York], 1974, pp. 11–12, 27.
Anthea Callen. "Faure and Manet." Gazette des beaux-arts 83 (March 1974), p. 163, provides provenance information.
Denis Rouart and Daniel Wildenstein. Édouard Manet, catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1975, vol. 1, pp. 4, 12, 17, 66–67, no. 58, ill.; vol. 2, p. 140, under no. 372.
S[usan]. A. D[enker]. inSelection V: French Watercolors and Drawings from the Museum's Collection, ca. 1800–1910. Exh. cat., Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Providence, 1975, pp. 106–8, under no. 47.
Theodore Reff. "Review of Rouart and Wildenstein 1975." Art Bulletin 58 (December 1976), p. 637.
Anne Coffin Hanson. Manet and the Modern Tradition. New Haven, 1977, pp. 79–82, 85, 87, 163, 170, 175, 188–89, 191, 200, pl. 49.
Seymour Howard. "Early Manet and Artful Error: Foundations of Anti-Illusion in Modern Painting." Art Journal 37 (Fall 1977), p. 16, fig. 4.
Nigel Glendinning. Goya and His Critics. New Haven, 1977, pp. 119, 279, 320 n. 5, fig. 33, reasserts that Manet used etching no. 5 from Goya's "Tauromaquia" series for the background group in this painting, and that the figures at the barrier in the painting may echo figures from nos. 19 and 31 in the same series; comments that Manet may have known Goya's drawing for etching no. 5 which was in Charles Yriarte's collection.
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. 423, 509–11, fig. VI-3.
Sharon Flescher. Zacharie Astruc: Critic, Artist and Japoniste. PhD diss., Columbia University. New York, 1978, p. 101.
Richard Shone. Manet. London, 1978, unpaginated, no. 5, colorpl. 5.
Joel Isaacson. The Crisis of Impressionism: 1878–1882. Exh. cat., University of Michigan Museum of Art. [Ann Arbor, Mich.], 1979, p. 36.
Alain De Leiris. "Edouard Manet's 'Mlle V. in the Costume of an Espada': Form-Ideas in Manet's Stylistic Repertory; Their Sources in Early Drawing Copies." Arts Magazine 53 (January 1979), pp. 112–17, fig. 1, and ill. on cover (color), considers this painting in relation to "form-ideas" seen in the drawings made by Manet in Italy in the 1850s after works by Andrea del Sarto.
Alain De Leiris. "Manet and El Greco: 'The Opera Ball'." Arts Magazine 55 (September 1980), p. 99.
Theodore Reff. "Courbet and Manet." Arts Magazine 54 (March 1980), pp. 100, 103 nn. 29–30, fig. 8, compares its design to that of contemporary theatrical posters and handbills.
Sandra Orienti. Tout Manet, 1853–1873: La peinture. Paris, 1981, vol. 1, pp. 25, 33, 30, no. 45, ill. (color and black and white).
Charles F. Stuckey. "What's Wrong with this Picture?" Art in America 69 (September 1981), p. 100.
Joel Isaacson. "Impressionism and Journalistic Illustration." Arts Magazine 56 (June 1982), p. 114 n. 56, lists pictorial sources that have been suggested for this work.
Charles S. Moffett inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 54, 64, 94, 106, 109–15, 192, 194, 203, 240, no. 33, ill. (color and x-ray) [French ed., Paris, pp. 54, 64, 94, 106, 108–14, 192, 194, 203, 240, no. 33, ill. (color and x-ray)], notes that x-rays indicate that Manet originally represented Victorine holding the cape in both hands, that the sword was added later, and that the figure of a seated nude is concealed, upside down, below the picture's surface.
Françoise Cachin inManet, 1832–1883. Ed. Françoise Cachin and Charles S. Moffett. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 99, 105, 165–66, 239 [French ed., Paris, pp. 99, 105, 165, 239].
Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Charles S. Moffett and Françoise Cachin. Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 116–19, 130, 138 [French ed., Paris, pp. 116–18, 130, 138–39], discusses Manet's etching after this painting and based on x-rays of this picture suggests that the motifs borrowed from Goya were added at a late stage.
Pierre Daix. La vie de peintre d'Édouard Manet. Paris, 1983, pp. 87, 124.
Charles F. Stuckey. Manet. Mount Vernon, N.Y., 1983, p. 9, colorpl. 5.
Denys Sutton. "Édouard Manet: The Artist as Dandy." Apollo 118 (October 1983), p. 333, fig. 9.
Linda Nochlin. "A Thoroughly Modern Masked Ball." Art in America 71 (November 1983), p. 192.
Jean-Jacques Lévêque. Manet. Paris, 1983, p. 67, ill. p. 35 (color).
Barbara Ehrlich White. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984, p. 30, suggests that the format, perspective, and pose in Renoir's "The Clown" (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo) were derived from this picture.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 28–29, ill. in color (overall and detail).
Elizabeth Anne McCauley. A. A. E. Disdéri and the Carte de visite Portrait Photograph. New Haven, 1985, pp. 181, 185, 190, fig. 177, comments that this work reflects the carte portraits of opera stars from years immediately preceding the painting; suggests that Manet's exposure to a woman wearing the knee-breeches and jacket of a bullfighter was probably in performances of ballets such as "Graciosa," which was first produced at the Opéra on March 15, 1861, remarking that Disdéri took photographs of the performers in costume; discounts that Manet looked at Raimondi and other sources, noting that "countless carte photographs of these espadas in costumes, usually more accurate and elaborate than Victorine's, circulated through Paris in 1862 and 1863".
Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 212, 255, colorpl. 82, states that this picture seems to have been Mrs. Havemeyer's favorite in her entire collection.
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. 162 n. 6.
Eunice Lipton. Looking into Degas: Uneasy Images of Women and Modern Life. Berkeley, 1986, pp. 35–36, fig. 23.
Juliet Wilson Bareau. The Hidden Face of Manet: An Investigation of the Artist's Working Processes. Exh. cat., Courtauld Institute Galleries. [London?], 1986, pp. 32, 34, figs. 31 (x-ray), 32, notes that the inverted nude figure visible in the x-ray is posed much like Manet's earlier "Bathsheba" (ca. 1858–60, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), a drawing after Jean-Baptiste Corneille's engraving, in turn, after a fresco by Giulio Romano in the loggia of Palazzo del Te in Mantua; proposes that Suzanne Leenhoff may have been the model.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, pp. 6, 12–13, ill. (color).
Leila W. Kinney. "Genre: A Social Contract?" Art Journal 46 (Winter 1987), p. 272, fig. 4.
Larry L. Ligo. "Baudelaire's Mistress Reclining and Young Woman Reclining in Spanish Costume: Manet's Pendant Portraits of his Acknowledged 'Mistresses,' Baudelairian Aesthetics and Photography." Arts Magazine 62 (January 1988), pp. 76, 83, fig. 19, relates it to "Young Woman Reclining in Spanish Costume" (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven) by claiming that both works portray a "hermaphrodite" as a symbol for photography.
Martine Bacherich. Je regarde Manet. Paris, 1990, pp. 13, 100–1, 118–19, 130, pl. 7.
Paul Hayes Tucker. Monet in the '90s: The Series Paintings. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1990, p. 131, fig. 55.
Klaus Herding. Courbet: To Venture Independence. New Haven, 1991, pp. 17, 202 n. 27, compares it to Courbet's "The Wrestlers" (Fernier 1978 no. 144), which creates "a similar negation of the traditional logic of proportions".
Sarah Carr-Gomm. Manet. London, 1992, pp. 14, 56–57, ill. (color).
Louisine W. Havemeyer. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. Ed. Susan Alyson Stein. 3rd ed. [1st ed. 1930, repr. 1961]. New York, 1993, pp. 7, 224–25, 307 n. 10, p. 333 n. 323.
Susan Alyson Stein inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 224.
Gary Tinterow inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 14, 30–31, 50, colorpl. 25.
Peter C. Sutton. The Age of Rubens. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 1993, p. 94.
Vivien Perutz. Édouard Manet. Lewisburg, Pa., 1993, pp. 28, 84, 86, colorpl. 11, comments that Manet's intended pendant to this work was "Young Man in the Costume of a Majo" (MMA 29.100.54); argues that a likely source for the figure is Manet's own servant in the "Spanish Cavaliers" (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons) and the etching "A Boy Carrying a Tray".
Nigel Blake and Francis Frascina in "Modern Practices of Art and Modernity." Modernity and Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven, 1993, p. 87, pl. 74, cite it as one of the paintings exhibited at the Salon des refusés that was regarded as unfinished.
Alisa Luxenberg inSpain, Espagne, Spanien: Foreign Artists Discover Spain, 1800–1900. Ed. Suzanne L. Stratton. Exh. cat., Equitable Gallery. New York, 1993, pp. 25–26, fig. 11.
Gretchen Wold inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 352, no. A344, ill.
Henri Loyrette inOrigins of Impressionism. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1994, pp. 201, 208, 295, 308, 395, 398–400, 402, 454, no. 90, ill. p. 399 and fig. 244 (color) [French ed., Paris, pp. 200, 207, 295, 308, 392, 396–98, 452, no. 90, ill. p. 396 and colorpl. 244], notes that at the Salon des Refusés in 1863, Manet exhibited this painting as part of a triptych, with this work to the right and "Young Man in the Costume of a Majo" (MMA 29.100.54) to the left of "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" (Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Françoise Cachin. Manet: "J'ai fait ce que j'ai vu". Paris, 1994, pp. 43, 48, 49–51, ill. (color, overall and detail) [English ed., 1995, pp. 3, 43, 49–51, 116, ill. (color, overall and detail)].
James H. Rubin. Manet's Silence and the Poetics of Bouquets. Cambridge, Mass., 1994, pp. 64, 172, 177, fig. 22, discusses it as an example of Manet's assimilation of many characteristics of Japanese art, including frontality, bold colors, strong outlines, and flatness.
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.
Gary Tinterow inCorot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, p. 329, fig. 143, under no. 140 [French ed., "Corot, 1796–1875," Paris, p. 390, ill.], names it as a possible source for Corot's "Le Chevalier (The Knight)" (R1510; Louvre, Paris).
Michael Fried. Manet's Modernism: or, The Face of Painting in the 1860s. Chicago, 1996, pp. 1, 88, 145–46, 284, 295, 324, 326, 334, 338, 468 n. 18, p. 469 n. 26, pp. 491–92 nn. 144–45, 147, colorpl. 5, suggests it was painted in the autumn or winter of 1862; discusses contemporary criticism and the critical response to his theories on possible influences.
Hans Körner. Edouard Manet: Dandy, Flaneur, Maler. Munich, 1996, pp. 42, 44, colorpl. 32.
Beth Archer Brombert. Édouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat. Boston, 1996, pp. 117, 119–20, 130, 433, notes that this is Manet's first canvas that treats the "theme of the antihero".
Alan Krell. Manet and the Painters of Contemporary Life. London, 1996, pp. 42–43, 49, 107, fig. 35.
Colin B. Bailey in Colin B. Bailey. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. New Haven, 1997, pp. 27–28.
Linda Nochlin in Colin B. Bailey. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. New Haven, 1997, pp. 64–65.
Gary Tinterow inLa collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 1997, p. 36, fig. 14.
Carol Armstrong. "To Paint, to Point, to Pose: Manet's 'Le déjeuner sur l'herbe'." Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe". Ed. Paul Hayes Tucker. Cambridge, 1998, pp. 93–96, 102, 104, believes that this and "Olympia" (Musée d'Orsay, Paris) "need to be considered together — for they belong to a series of pairs comparing and contrasting the features of Victorine in and out of art historical guise, more or less absorbed into her art-historical role, more or less overtly announcing her status as painter's model".
Fred Licht. Manet. Milan, 1998, pp. 33–35, pl. 11, discusses the spatial ambiguity in this work, remarking that it appears as if Victorine were in the studio standing in front of a painting of a bullfight.
Paul Hayes Tucker. "Making Sense of Édouard Manet's 'Le déjeuner sur l'herbe'." Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe". Ed. Paul Hayes Tucker. Cambridge, 1998, pp. 17–18, fig. 10.
Nancy Locke. "Manet's 'Le déjeuner sur l'herbe' as a Family Romance." Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe". Ed. Paul Hayes Tucker. Cambridge, 1998, pp. 119–20, 136, 138.
George Mauner and Henri Loyrette. Manet: The Still-Life Paintings. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. New York, 2000, p. 14, fig. 3 (color) [French ed., "Manet: Les natures mortes," Paris, pp. 30–31, fig. 3 (color)], comments that it was based on a "sixteenth-century emblem depicting Nemesis . . . retaining the sword from the emblem and substituting the red cloth or muleta . . . for the reins held by the woman in the emblem. The fact that the torero is a woman, long a puzzling aspect of the painting, is a further clue to its emblematic source and meaning".
Richard R. Brettell. Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860–1890. Exh. cat., National Gallery, London. New Haven, 2000, pp. 78, 80, fig. 39 (detail in color).
Nancy Locke. Manet and the Family Romance. Princeton, 2001, pp. 56, 62, 81, 100, 104, 119, 128, 194 n. 168, fig. 23.
Marie Lathers inDictionary of Artists' Models. Ed. Jill Berk Jiminez and Joanna Banham. London, 2001, pp. 370–71.
Peter Meller. "Manet in Italy: Some Newly Identified Sources for his Early Sketchbooks." Burlington Magazine 144 (February 2002), p. 81 n. 67, notes that the pose is Raphaelesque.
Carol Armstrong. Manet Manette. New Haven, 2002, pp. 11, 15–16, 20, 40, 72, 82–83, 94, 99, 112–14, 139, 149–50, 157, 160, 162, 344 nn. 2 and 4, p. 353 n. 9, ill. pp. 27, 134 (color detail), and colorpl. 66, compares it to "The Street Singer" (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
"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. 389–90, 403.
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. 222, 236, 486, 490–91, no. 139, fig. 9.34 (color) and ill. p. 490 [French ed., "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," Paris, 2002, pp. 189, 379, no. 78, fig. 98 (color)], remarks that in titling it "Mlle V. . ." Manet was observing the convention of society portrait painters who disguised the identities of their well-known sitters in a similar way.
H. Barbara Weinberg in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, p. 289 n. 110.
Trevor Fairbrother in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, p. 521.
Manuela B. Mena Marqués inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 24, 184, 186, 190, 193, 196, 206, 218, 225, 373, 441–45, 449, 452, 455, no. 39, ill. (color and black and white), remarks that it must have been finished by September 1862.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 49–50, 385.
Valeriano Bozal inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 86–89, 403, 405.
Gudrun Mühle-Maurer inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 353, 495.
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, suggests that Manet was influenced by Gautier's "Voyage en Espagne".
Françoise Cachin inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manuela B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 31–32, 376.
Ángel González García inManet en el Prado. Ed. Manula B. Mena Marqués. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 98, 410.
Gilles Néret. Edouard Manet, 1832–1883: Le premier des modernes. Cologne, 2003, p. 17, ill. p. 6 (color).
Dorothee Hansen inMonet und "Camille": Frauenportraits im Impressionismus. Ed. Dorothee Hansen and Wulf Herzogenrath. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Munich, 2005, pp. 68, 185, under no. 6, n. 2, ill. (color), compares it to Monet's "Portrait of Victor Jacquemont with Parasol" (1865; Kunsthaus Zurich).
Theodore Reff. Manet's Incident in a Bullfight. New York, 2005, pp. 11, 22, 37–38 n. 16, fig. 5.
Ross King. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism. New York, 2006, pp. 37, 50, 325.
John Elderfield. Manet and the Execution of Maximilian. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2006, pp. 35, 38, 40, 44–45, 52, 75, 78, 162 nn. 27, 33, p. 163, nn. 45, 48, fig. 10 (color), suggests that in its reference to Goya, this picture may allude to "Goya's symbolization of popular resistance to Napoleon I's campaign to conquer Spain, and hence of similar resistance of his nephew's attempt to do the same thing in Mexico".
Christiane Lefebvre. Alfred Stevens, 1823–1906. Paris, 2006, pp. 94, 189 n. 21, fig. 98.
Richard Rand inInspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past. Ed. Ann Dumas. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Denver, 2007, p. 154, fig. 66 (color), discusses the influence of Fragonard's fantasy portraits on this picture.
Gary Tinterow inThe Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 82–83, 225–26, no. 57, ill. (color and black and white) and fig. 16 (installation photo, color).
Helen Burnham. "Fashion and the Representation of Modernity: Studies in the Late Work of Edouard Manet (1832–1883)." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2007, pp. 3, 166 n. 295, p. 229.
Bruce Altshuler, ed. Salon to Biennial—Exhibitions That Made Art History, 1863–1959. Vol. 1, London, 2008, p. 25, ill. p. 27 (color), reproduces Paris 1863 catalogue page.
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], observes that Renoir's "Young Spanish Woman with a Guitar" (1898; National Gallery of Art, Washington) alludes to this picture.
Anne Distel. Renoir. New York, 2010, p. 78, colorpl. 59, compares the pose to that of Renoir's "The Clown" (1868, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo).
Eric Zafran inBirth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay. Exh. cat., de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco, 2010, fig. 5 (in caricature), publishes a caricature by Fabritzius of paintings in the 1863 Salon des Refusés that includes The Met's picture.
Simon Kelly inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 60, 68 nn. 38–39.
Stéphane Guégan inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, p. 31, colorpl. 4.
Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel inManet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, pp. 284–85.
Gary Tinterow inImpressionism, Fashion, & Modernity. Ed. Gloria Groom. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Chicago, 2012, p. 21 [French ed., "L'Impressionnisme et la Mode," Paris, p. 31].
MaryAnne Stevens inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, p. 197, under no. 51, p. 202 n. 19.
Stéphane Guégan inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, p. 202 n. 5, notes that she wears the same knee breeches as the comic opera character Figaro.
Carol M. Armstrong inManet: Portraying Life. Exh. cat., Toledo Museum of Art. London, 2012, pp. 44–45, 47–48, notes that Manet substantially enlarged the image from his carte-de-visite sources, making the picture's derivation difficult to recognize and subverting the image's effect and meaning; calls the resultant image of Victorine "strangely photographic . . . and exaggeratedly anti-photographic".
Michael F. Zimmermann inRenoir, Between Bohemia and Bourgeoisie: The Early Years. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Ostfildern, 2012, p. 34.
Susan Sidlauskas inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, pp. 35, 39.
Jane Mayo Roos inPerspectives on Manet. Ed. Therese Dolan. Farnham, Surrey, 2012, pp. 79, 94 n. 15.
Stéphane Guégan inManet: Ritorno a Venezia. Ed. Stéphane Guégan. Exh. cat., Palazzo Ducale. Venice, 2013, p. 124.
Cesare de Seta inManet: Ritorno a Venezia. Ed. Stéphane Guégan. Exh. cat., Palazzo Ducale. Venice, 2013, p. 55.
Ton van Kempen and Nicoline van de Beek. Madame Manet: Muziek en Kunst in het Parijs van de Impressionisten. Culemborg, 2014, p. 90 n. 33, p. 145 n. 23, ill. p. 91 (Fabritzius cartoon).
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, pp. 283, 436, no. 353, ill. pp. 362, 436 (color).
Isabelle Cahn inSpectaculaire Second Empire. Ed. Guy Cogeval et al. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2016, p. 239, fig. 15 (color).
Marc Gotlieb. The Deaths of Henri Regnault. Chicago, 2016, pp. 99, 263 n. 72, fig. 47, compares it to Regnault's "Salome" (1870, The Met 16.95).
Marianne Koos inPraised and Ridiculed: French Painting 1820–1880. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Munich, 2017, p. 229 n. 14.
Alexander Eiling inCézanne: Metamorphoses. Ed. Alexander Eiling. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe, 2017, p. 233 n. 1.
Edouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, p. 118.
Stefan Lüddemann inEdouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, ill. p. 28 (color, in caricature), reproduces Fabritzius caricature (see Zafran 2010).
Ina Conzen inEdouard Manet. Ed. Gerhard Finckh. Exh. cat., Von der Heydt-Museum. Wuppertal, 2017, p. 43, as "Mlle Victorine als Espada"; discusses it among early examples of Manet's emancipated female protagonists.
Emily A. Beeny. "Manet's Boucher." Metropolitan Museum Journal 53 (2018), pp. 69, 71–74, 76–78 nn. 12–13, 17, p. 80 n. 65, figs. 3, 4 (color and x-ray), notes that a fountain depicted at lower left, visible only in x-rays of the painting, seems to confirm the connection made by Wilson-Bareau (1986) with the Romano fresco but proposes that the pose of the x-ray's seated female nude figure is an "abortive scaled-up exploration" of the seated nude's pose in Boucher's "Diana Leaving Her Bath" (1742, Musée du Louvre, Paris); states that details visible in the x-ray indicate the painter's use of a live model, rather than an old master source; argues that the effacing of the nude image may have served as the artist's gesture of renunciation of his former master Couture's teachings and as a way of dissociating himself from a more femininely-associated Rococo revival.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau and Kathryn Kremnitzer inManet Paintings and Works on Paper at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ed. Gloria Groom and Genevieve Westerby. Chicago, 2019, under no. 1 [https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140027].
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. 9 [https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140035].
Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Kathryn Kremnitzer, and Genevieve Westerby inManet Paintings and Works on Paper at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ed. Gloria Groom and Genevieve Westerby. Chicago, 2019, under no. 12 [https://publications.artic.edu/manet/reader/manetart/section/140042].
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. 92.
Paloma Alarcó. The Impressionists and Photography. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2019, ill. p. 267 (in installation photograph of Paris 1884).
Dorothee Hansen inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, pp. 158, 190, 196 n. 9, p. 278, compares it to Zacharie Astruc's painting "Young Woman in the Costume of a Torero (Young Dancer)" (ca. 1880/83, private collection).
Christine Demele inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, p. 59, fig. 11 (color).
Alice Gudera inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, p. 79 n. 65, pp. 182, 184, stresses that it was not the "erotically charged role-play" that caused a stir with the critics, but rather the "unacademic composition and artistic design".
Samuel Rodary inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, p. 115.
Maren Hüppe inManet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration. Ed. Dorothee Hansen. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bremen. Madrid, 2021, p. 292.
James Fairhead. "Victorine Meurent: New Evidence from America and Paris." Burlington Magazine 165 (August 2023), pp. 817, 822, 824, 826, fig. 3 (color), provides new biographical information about Victorine Meurent as a cancan dancer; notes that, though Manet's notebook indicates that he knew Meurent by 1862 as "Louise," the title under which this painting was exhibited in 1863 (same as its current title) aligns with new evidence that her stage name was "Mlle Victorine"; recounts that a year prior to the completion of the painting a Victorine danced in the finale of a show that included a parody of bull fighting at the Hippodrome, where Manet was a frequent visitor.
The model for this painting was Victorine Meurent (1844–1927). She was Manet's favorite model, posing for Young Lady in 1866 (The Met 89.21.3), Olympia (Musée d'Orsay, Paris), and The Street Singer (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), among others. In this painting she is shown " en travesti" in the costume of an espada. Manet reused the bolero, head scarf, and hat in several other works, including The Spanish Singer and Young Man in the Costume of a Majo (The Met 49.58.2 and 29.100.54).
The bullfight scene in the background is derived from Goya's "Tauromaquia" etchings. Many other sources have been suggested for the composition (see Sandblad 1954, Fried 1969, Reff 1969, McCauley 1985, and Perutz 1993).
Manet made a watercolor, in reverse, of this composition (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence), which served as the intermediate step between the painting and the etching he made in 1862, which was published as no. 4 of a set of eight.
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