Etching, 1862. 320x236 mm; 12 1/2x9 1/4 inches, full margins. Second state (of 2). The first printing in this state, with the address of the publishers Cadart and Chevalier, Paris, and their blind stamp (Lugt 3270, lower center recto). A superb, richly-inked impression with very strong contrasts and all the fine details distinct.
This is Manet's (1832-1883) first published etching. It was based on an oil painting of the same subject by Manet, exhibited in 1863 at the Galerie Martinet, Paris, and in 1867 at the temporary pavilion he erected on the avenue de l'Alma near the Exposition Universelle. He subsequently cut the canvas into several fragments, evidently in response to the negative criticism it received. The etching is the only record of the full composition of this now destroyed painting. Guérin 21; Harris 18.
