Etching printed in black on thin, cream laid paper, 1862. 230x190 mm; 9 1/8x7 1/2 inches, full margins. A very good, dark impression with strong contrasts.
Whistler and Manet (1831-1883) shared the distinct honor of having the most controversial paintings at the Paris Salon des Refusés of 1863, where Whistler showed The White Girl (see lot 64) and Manet exhibited Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe. The artists had met two years earlier in Paris through their mutual friend, Henri Fantin-Latour.
While Manet's etchings never reach the "Rembrandtesque" tonal qualities that Whistler's prints achieve, there are similarities with Whistler's etchings of the late 1850s/early 1860s in the solitary figures set against densely-shaded or blank backgrounds. Guérin 6; Harris 14.
