Édouard Manet
The Gypsies
1862
Physical Qualities
Etching, Sheet: 361 x 270 mm. (14 3/16 x 10 5/8 in.)
Plate: 318 x 238 mm. (12 1/2 x 9 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.5127
When this etching was made it would have been far more common for a painter of Manet’s stature to hire a professional printmaker to make a reproduction of his painting but Manet valued the spontaneity and freedom of drawing inherent in the etching medium so he undertook his own free interpretation of his earlier painting. These two exhibited states, or stages in the artist’s work on the plate, come from the extraordinary collection of Manet prints that Lucas assembled. The print of the first state, known in only two
impressions is on the left, and on the right is an impression of the image that was actually published, Manet’s first published print. The complete composition is present in the first state but Manet continued work on the shading to add texture and compositional balance as well as enhancing the space around the figure. Some years later Manet cut this painting into pieces so the print remains the only record of the original composition.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
The Maryland Institude of Art, Baltimore, Dec. 3 - Dec. 22, 1959.
Maryland Arts Council, Sept. 17, 1969 - June 19, 1970.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, "Manet and His Contemporaries," Oct. 10 - Dec. 12, 1971.
Eugene Leake, Maryland Institute College of Art, St. Timothy's School, Stevenson, MD, Oct. 23 - Nov. 9, 1972.
BMA, "The Prints of Edouard Manet: A Centenary Celebration," 27 September - 20 November, 1983.
Jay McKean Fisher, International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C., "The Prints of Edouard Manet," May 1985 - June 1986, cat. no. 11, p. 43-44, ill. p. 43; circulated to The Detroit Institute of Art, May 14 - June 30, 1985; University Art Museum, Berkeley, Sept. 18 - Nov. 3; The St. Louis Art Museum, Nov. 23, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986; Huntsville Museum of Art; Worcester Art Museum, Jan. 25 - Mar. 9, 1986; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Mar. 29 - May 11, 1986.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art," October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006.
Maryland Arts Council, Sept. 17, 1969 - June 19, 1970.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, "Manet and His Contemporaries," Oct. 10 - Dec. 12, 1971.
Eugene Leake, Maryland Institute College of Art, St. Timothy's School, Stevenson, MD, Oct. 23 - Nov. 9, 1972.
BMA, "The Prints of Edouard Manet: A Centenary Celebration," 27 September - 20 November, 1983.
Jay McKean Fisher, International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C., "The Prints of Edouard Manet," May 1985 - June 1986, cat. no. 11, p. 43-44, ill. p. 43; circulated to The Detroit Institute of Art, May 14 - June 30, 1985; University Art Museum, Berkeley, Sept. 18 - Nov. 3; The St. Louis Art Museum, Nov. 23, 1985 - Jan. 5, 1986; Huntsville Museum of Art; Worcester Art Museum, Jan. 25 - Mar. 9, 1986; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Mar. 29 - May 11, 1986.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art," October 1, 2006 - December 31, 2006.
Inscribed: Signed in plate: lower right "éd. Manet"
Markings: Collector's stamp: verso "M.I. / LUCAS / COLLECTION" (Lugt 1695c) Watermark: Hallines
