Horsewoman, Fullface

Horsewoman, Fullface belongs to an unfinished series on the four seasons that Édouard Manet painted in the last two years of his life, commissioned by his friend Antonin Proust, then Minister of Fine Arts. The theme of the four seasons represented by female figures was relatively common in the history of Western painting. Manet’s own sister-in-law, the painter Berthe Morisot, had produced one of these cycles featuring young women attired in fashionable dress. It was also habitual in Japanese prints — which were so widespread at the time — for the seasons to be symbolised by features of courtesans. Read more...