Édouard Manet (1832-1883) The Gitanos. 1862. Etching. 235x315 [265x360]. Guérin 21(i/ii); Fisher 15 (i/vi); Bareau-Berès 32 (i/v). A very fine and extremely rare proof on ivory laid paper (watermark: hallines with shield surmounted by the letters hp), from the 1st state, before numerous new works, notably before the bouquet of trees on the left and before additional clouds, with good margins of 2 to 3cm, remarged using a lighter laid paper. Slight traces of oxidation at the edges of this mount. Extremely rare: cataloguers list only two proofs of this 1st state, one in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (coll. Moreau-Nélaton), the other in the Baltimore Museum of Art (Lucas Collection). This etched subject is derived from a canvas by the artist, which he then cut into several fragments after the Alma exhibition in 1867. The etching is the only surviving evidence of the original painted composition. Counterbalancing the Italian Renaissance influence common to many works of the period, there is more of a Hispanic influence: Manet was a great admirer of Goya, Murillo and Velázquez. The figure of the standing man is reminiscent of a royal portrait by Velázquez, while the mother and child, close to a classical Nativity scene, also evoke Murillo's paintings of peasants. Les Gitanos is the very first print that Manet donated to the Société des Aquafortistes. In its final state, the subject appeared in the first album of the Société des Aquafortistes (September 1, 1862) published by Cadart, along with other engravings by Bracquemond, Corot, Daubigny, Seymour Haden, Jongkind, Legros and others. This was Cadart's first published etching, demonstrating his mastery as an engraver and marking his debut in the art. It was subsequently published again in a suite of 14 etchings by the artist around 1863, in the Cadart portfolio of 1874, and also, in 1872, on chine appliqué, in the album Cent eaux-fortes par cent artistes. The innovative, free and "brutal" nature of the etching, with its deep bite, did not escape the attention of critics, who could see how it departed from the conscientious, applied reproduction etching of the time.