Madame Manet at the Piano is a portrait by Édouard Manet of his wife Suzanne (née Leenhoff), painted in 1867-68 and now in the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris.[1] It highlights her talent on the piano, having played Wagner to Baudelaire during his last days.[2]
| Madame Manet at the Piano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Édouard Manet |
| Year | 1867-1868 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Location | Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
Presentation
editIn 1849 Manet's father appointed Suzanne Leenhoff as piano teacher for his sons. She was a gifted interpreter of composers such as Schumann and Richard Wagner. When the poet Charles Baudelaire suffered a stroke in 1866 and ended up in a Paris hospital, she offered him a distraction by playing Wagner. A love affair developed between Leenhoff and Manet, which would eventually will led to their marriage in 1863.[3]
In 1868, Edgar Degas had made a painting of the Manet couple with Suzanne at the piano and her husband listening on the couch. Degas gave the canvas to Manet as a present. However, the latter was so dissatisfied with the way his wife had been portrayed that he cut off part of the canvas. Then he painted his own version. Suzanne Manet wears a black dress on this. Manet chose a relatively high vantage point for this painting so that her hands are clearly visible. In the top right corner a small still life is visible in the mirror, including a clock and a pair of candlesticks, lending depth and vibrancy to the flat background.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Joconde entry".
- ^ "Catalogue entry".
- ^ Lehmbeck, Leah (2013-09-25). "Leah Lehmbeck. Review of "Perspectives on Manet" by Therese Dolan". Caa.reviews. doi:10.3202/caa.reviews.2013.99. ISSN 1543-950X.