Edouard MANET. 1832-1883

Le chat et les fleurs. 1869 ca.

Etching and aquatint; mm. 200x150. Late edition. Signature of Maned on bottom, to the left. Very nice copy with wide margins. Very good condition.

This intimate and delicate image provides a snapshot of everyday life: on the balcony a cat wanders around a pot full of flowers. The composition is at the same time very simple and very complex, since it presents a certain visual confusion for the viewer. The attention is drawn to the shape of the cat that stands out in the foreground and the flowers outlined behind the balustrade: thus Manet manages to invert the normal perceptive relationship between foreground and background, creating an image that proposes different levels of reading and of fruition.