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Lot Essay
Possibly a fantasy, or a diversion, created by Manet as a counterpart to his more academic preparatory drawings, Femme tendue reflects the fresh approach which Manet sought to project to his works. Based upon Manet's 1862-63 masterpiece Olympia (Muse d'Orsay, Paris), this drawing, so spontaneous, so free, portrays the same model as the one in Young Woman reclining, in Spanish Costume (Yale Art Gallery, New Haven), possibly the mistress of Felix Tournachon, better known as Nadar.
Though the liveliness of the work echoes that of the life sketch, the present work suggests an invention of the artist, recording a pose closely resembling that of Victorine Meurend in Olympia, of a Delacroix Odalisque, or of Goya's Majas (nude and clothed). Manet shared the taste of his Parisian contemporaries for Spanish things - a passing vogue, which came to climax in the summer of 1862, when a Spanish ballet troupe performed in Paris. Thus enthusiastic as all of Paris was, Manet produced between 1860 and 1863, several works, including early drawings, which clearly denote Manet's admiration for the exotic and his inclination to the great Spanish master, Goya. From him, Manet takes the candour of the subject and the individuality of the model, however, the image itself evokes Beaudelaire in spirit and Constantin Guys in form.
Though the liveliness of the work echoes that of the life sketch, the present work suggests an invention of the artist, recording a pose closely resembling that of Victorine Meurend in Olympia, of a Delacroix Odalisque, or of Goya's Majas (nude and clothed). Manet shared the taste of his Parisian contemporaries for Spanish things - a passing vogue, which came to climax in the summer of 1862, when a Spanish ballet troupe performed in Paris. Thus enthusiastic as all of Paris was, Manet produced between 1860 and 1863, several works, including early drawings, which clearly denote Manet's admiration for the exotic and his inclination to the great Spanish master, Goya. From him, Manet takes the candour of the subject and the individuality of the model, however, the image itself evokes Beaudelaire in spirit and Constantin Guys in form.