Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)
Le Bohémien (The Bohemian)
1861–1862, date of rework: 1867
Oil on canvas, 90.5 x 55.3 x 2.5 cm
Louvre, Abu Dhabi
The pose of this young man with a bent wrist recalls Renaissance painting and endows the work with a touch of nobility. Manet initially depicted him with a family (“The Gypsies”) before separating him to concentrate on the essential: a lively, resolute young Gypsy who seems to challenge the viewer. His rags of blue, white, red and yellow stand out against the blue of the sky with a boldness criticized by some journalists in 1863. Poor but free and his own master, this figure epitomises the artists of the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. (LAD)