George Moore (1852–1933)  1879

by Edouard Manet

This pastel, executed in one sitting, depicts the Irish critic and novelist George Moore. He used it as the frontispiece for his book Modern Painting (1893), noting that as "a fresh-complexioned, fair-haired young man, the type most suitable to Manet's palette, [the artist] at once asked [him] to sit." Critics ridiculed this work when it was exhibited in 1880, calling it "...
Size: 
21 3/4 x 13 7/8 in. (55.2 x 35.2 cm)
Medium: 
Pastel on canvas
Credit: 
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art