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Lola de
Valence
Moreau-Nélaton
3, Guérin 23, Harris 33, Fisher 25, Wilson-Bareau 34
etching and aquatint,
1862, on fine white Chine volant paper, the extremely rare 5th
state (of 8), with the foreground shortened to include Baudelaire's
quatrain, but before the letters of the first Aquafortistes
edition (1863), a superb impression with wide margins (although
laterally somewhat irregular, and vertically folded back about
10mm in from the edges), the full sheet with original blue dye
markings at top and bottom edges, traces of hinges from an old
mount on the reverse edge, otherwise in impeccable condition
P. 262x183mm., S. 440x345mm.
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Provenance: the Henri
M. Petiet collection, with the HMP wetstamp on the reverse (not
cited in Lugt)
Firstly, this exceptional
fifth state impression is of the utmost rarity. Wilson-Bareau
records only one known proof (see the 1978 Berès catalogue
and the 1983 Manet RMN exhibition catalogue), that of the Moreau-Nelaton
collection, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale*, Paris,
printed in a rich bistre on Chine volant, whereas the present
impression is in a luxurious black.
The present impression,
predating the 1863 edition, is not to be confused with the late
7th state, that of the letter effaced, impressions of which invariably
show traces of the old address, as well as significant wear to
the aquatint, the fine details of the face and hair, as well as
the rich dark zones along the waistband of the skirt, not to mention
the complete lack of burr on the drypoint retouches.
This fine print, an adaptation
of Manet's renowned painting that provoked scandal in 1867, is
moreover the sole testimony of the picture's original conception
with a unified and neutral background, which was modified, according
to Tabarant, to a more theatrical decor "on the advice of
his friends."
Furthermore it should
be noted that this print, as Pierre Daix (1983) has remarked,
is more than a simple popularisation or "scholarly"
reproduction of the work, but rather a means of controlling his
painting by a "change in medium." In short, Manet reinvents
a vision of his art through graphic technique.
* We have had the opportunity
of examining the BN impression, which conforms closely with the
present proof, especially as regards the quality of the fine-grain
aquatint applied in the third state, the extremely delicate hairline
incisions on the index finger of the right hand and the base of
the fan that appear in the fourth state, and the drypoint retouches
on the pendant pompons on either side of the skirt that characterise
the "definitive" fifth state rework.
