Édouard Manet
Edgar Poe
1859
Physical Qualities
Etching, Sheet: 340 x 260 mm. (13 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Plate: 206 x 158 mm. (8 1/8 x 6 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with Funds from the State of Maryland, the Bequest of Laurence Bendann, and Contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.48.5147
The circular frame that Manet drew around Poe’s portrait suggests the format of 19th-century daguerreotypes and painted miniature portraits that were kept as mementos of loved ones. This composed and tranquil portrait of the writer was actually based on an 1848 daguerreotype taken the day he proposed to the American writer Sarah Helen Whitman, who accepted his proposal, but later declined to marry him.
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
Brandywine River Museum, "Picturing Poe: Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe's Stories and Poems," September 8 2012 - November 15 2012.
Jay McKean Fisher, International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C., "The Prints of Edouard Manet," 1985-1986; circulated to The Detroit Institute of Art; University Art Museum, Berkeley; The St. Louis Art Museum; Huntsville Museum of Art; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Doreen Bolger, BMA, "Haunting Visions of Poe; Illustrations by Manet, Matisse & Gauguin," Sept. 17, 2003-Jan. 11, 2004.
Doreen Bolger, BMA, "Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon," 4 October 2009 - 17 January 2010.
Jay McKean Fisher, International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C., "The Prints of Edouard Manet," 1985-1986; circulated to The Detroit Institute of Art; University Art Museum, Berkeley; The St. Louis Art Museum; Huntsville Museum of Art; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Doreen Bolger, BMA, "Haunting Visions of Poe; Illustrations by Manet, Matisse & Gauguin," Sept. 17, 2003-Jan. 11, 2004.
Doreen Bolger, BMA, "Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon," 4 October 2009 - 17 January 2010.
Inscribed: Inscribed in pencil: verso, in Lucas' hand "Epreuve Moderne (Dumont)"
Markings: Collector's stamp: verso "M.I. / LUCAS / COLLECTION" (Lugt 1695c)
