Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)
Madame Édouard Manet
c.1873
Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 78.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Manet undertook only six portraits of his wife, the Dutch pianist Suzanne Leenhoff, in the years after their marriage in 1863. Half were left unfinished, including the present work, providing rare insight into the artist’s technique. He sketched the figure and background with broad strokes, then turned to the facial features, scraping off the face at least twice, before eventually abandoning the picture. (MET)
See also:
• Manet, Suzanne (1830-1906)