GENERAL DESCRIPTION
From 1879 Edouard Manet was plagued with a disease of the legs that eventually rendered him an invalid and resulted in his death. Hydrotherapy treatments did little to arrest the course of his affliction, but Manet's spirits never flagged, and in his last years he amused himself with painting small oils, watercolors, and pastels, visiting with friends, and writing illustrated letters. Often his still lifes depict flowers which admirers brought to his studio to cheer him.
Vase of White Lilacs and Roses is known to have been Manet's second to last painting before his death on April 30, 1883. Bouquets of springtime lilacs and roses appear in other pictures, as does also the same tall and narrow crystal vase. What sets this painting apart, however, is the unique cross-like structure formed by the vase and two horizontal sprays of lilacs that extend to the edges of the canvas, making for a centralized and symmetrical composition. Given Manet's impending death, one wonders if it is valid to interpret in this composition a religious connotation, conceivably taken even further by the positioning of the three roses at the center of the cross as a symbol of the Trinity.
In any case, the presentation is far from morbid or austere. Indeed, the painting's sparkling color and freshness of handling attest to the delight Manet continued to derive from the world and around him even in his illness.
Excerpt from
Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, TX: 1985), 95.
NOTES
Created 1883
Manet spent the last two years of his life in a painful convalescence, worn down by the debilitating effects of various physical ailments. His major achievement of those years was "The Bar at the Folies-Bergere" (1881-1882, Courtauld Institute, London), which is arguably his masterpiece. He also painted a wonderful group of garden landscapes at a rented summer home in Rueil as well as a superb series of simple floral still lifes, now scattered in collections throughout the world. "Vase of White Lilacs and Roses" is among the freshest and finest of these paintings, all of which speak to the eloquence, refinement, and delicacy of Manet's aesthetic. Never do we have a hint of pain or suffering. Never are we allowed a glimpse of Manet's reflection in the glass vases, or a glance into the rooms in which he painted while enduring the physical sufferings of his last years. Instead, we see the purest of water, the freshest of flowers, and the most exquisitely transparent of glass vases.
Some scholars have followed Adolphe Tabarant's lead in saying that this picture was in fact the second to last painting made by the artist, painted on the last day of February 1883 (Tabarant 1947, 468). Manet died on 30 April after a month of intense pain and suffering. His last painting, a portrait of the actress Méry Laurent, remained unfinished on his easel.
Emery Reves and many others saw the form of a crucified Christ in the lilac branches and the roses. Whether or not one accepts this notion, there is in the work a sense of the ultimate eloquence of gesture, as the flowers reach across the canvas and beyond its edges in their zeal. And Manet's painted gestures have a similar effect; one can read them as either the delicate petals of hothouse flowers or the repeated jabbings of an artist desperate to communicate, but severely restricted in his strength.
"Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection," page 89
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Manet, Edouard (French, 1832-1883)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York~Read a biography of Manet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris~Learn more about Manet's still lifes.
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General Description
From 1879 Edouard Manet was plagued with a disease of the legs that eventually rendered him an invalid and resulted in his death. Hydrotherapy treatments did little to arrest the course of his affliction, but Manet's spirits never flagged, and in his last years he amused himself with painting small oils, watercolors, and pastels, visiting with friends, and writing illustrated letters. Often his still lifes depict flowers which admirers brought to his studio to cheer him.
Vase of White Lilacs and Roses is known to have been Manet's second to last painting before his death on April 30, 1883. Bouquets of springtime lilacs and roses appear in other pictures, as does also the same tall and narrow crystal vase. What sets this painting apart, however, is the unique cross-like structure formed by the vase and two horizontal sprays of lilacs that extend to the edges of the canvas, making for a centralized and symmetrical composition. Given Manet's impending death, one wonders if it is valid to interpret in this composition a religious connotation, conceivably taken even further by the positioning of the three roses at the center of the cross as a symbol of the Trinity.
In any case, the presentation is far from morbid or austere. Indeed, the painting's sparkling color and freshness of handling attest to the delight Manet continued to derive from the world and around him even in his illness.
Excerpt from
Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, TX: 1985), 95.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York~Read a biography of Manet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris~Learn more about Manet's still lifes.
Notes
Created 1883
Manet spent the last two years of his life in a painful convalescence, worn down by the debilitating effects of various physical ailments. His major achievement of those years was "The Bar at the Folies-Bergere" (1881-1882, Courtauld Institute, London), which is arguably his masterpiece. He also painted a wonderful group of garden landscapes at a rented summer home in Rueil as well as a superb series of simple floral still lifes, now scattered in collections throughout the world. "Vase of White Lilacs and Roses" is among the freshest and finest of these paintings, all of which speak to the eloquence, refinement, and delicacy of Manet's aesthetic. Never do we have a hint of pain or suffering. Never are we allowed a glimpse of Manet's reflection in the glass vases, or a glance into the rooms in which he painted while enduring the physical sufferings of his last years. Instead, we see the purest of water, the freshest of flowers, and the most exquisitely transparent of glass vases.
Some scholars have followed Adolphe Tabarant's lead in saying that this picture was in fact the second to last painting made by the artist, painted on the last day of February 1883 (Tabarant 1947, 468). Manet died on 30 April after a month of intense pain and suffering. His last painting, a portrait of the actress Méry Laurent, remained unfinished on his easel.
Emery Reves and many others saw the form of a crucified Christ in the lilac branches and the roses. Whether or not one accepts this notion, there is in the work a sense of the ultimate eloquence of gesture, as the flowers reach across the canvas and beyond its edges in their zeal. And Manet's painted gestures have a similar effect; one can read them as either the delicate petals of hothouse flowers or the repeated jabbings of an artist desperate to communicate, but severely restricted in his strength.
"Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection," page 89
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Manet, Edouard (French, 1832-1883)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
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1985.R.34
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