938 - MANET, Édouard (1832–1883). Autograph letter, signed and illustrated with a watercolor, addressed to his muse and model Méry Laurent. Bellevue, n.d. [circa 1880]. 20 x 12 cm. Minor creases and tears in the paper, nothing serious.

MANET, Édouard (1832–1883). Autograph letter, signed and illustrated with a watercolor, addressed to his muse and model Méry Laurent. Bellevue, n.d. [circa 1880]. 20 x 12 cm. Minor creases and tears in the paper, nothing serious. EXCEPTIONAL AND EXTREMELY RARE ILLUSTRATED LETTER FROM MANET TO HIS MUSE “It’s not that I’ve forgotten my friends, my dear Mery, but I’ve started working again and that keeps me busy. I’m even delighted to see that it doesn’t tire me, and I’m getting better and better. I hope it continues this way. Best regards. EM.” Manet’s Letters Written from Bellevue In the summer of 1880, Edouard Manet, whose health was deteriorating, underwent a course of treatment at Bellevue. This retreat in Meudon, far from the hustle and bustle of Paris, cut him off from his friends. To make up for their absence, Manet took up his pen and brush and created a series of works in the form of letters. “He sketched one after another, prepared watercolor sheets that he then used as stationery, with his writing intertwining with and settling upon the motifs […] and these were all modest gifts sent to friends” (Arnauld Le Brusq, p. 6). He drew seasonal fruits, flowers from his garden, and his lunch menu. Here, Manet paints in watercolor, covering the entire surface of the sheet, a beautiful pink rose set against a backdrop of leaves. Just beginning to bloom, this rose undoubtedly comes from the gardens of Bellevue. In this flower, we see all of Manet’s artistry and technique: the bold juxtaposition of colors to create depth and a confident, highly expressive line. Manet offers a rose to his friend and confidante. Regularly exhibited by institutions in recent years—notably in Paris and Chicago—these watercolor letters now occupy a place all their own within the master’s body of work. As early as 1929, they were the subject of an illustrated publication. Some are held by institutions (the Jacques Doucet Library, the MET in New York, etc.). Others have appeared at auction in recent years. Notable examples include a letter to Zacharie Astruc (Sotheby’s, New York, November 10, 2014, lot no. 4, sold for €233,000), another addressed to Jules Guillemet more recently (Sotheby’s Paris, June 22, 2022, lot no. 141, sold for €201,600), and, as a final example, one sent to Marthe Hoschedé featuring an illustration of a chestnut (Sotheby’s, NY, May 8, 2013, lot no. 116, €205,570). Méry Laurent, Muse of the Parnassus and the Great Painters: An Extraordinary Life Our letter is addressed to Méry Laurent, who was Manet’s muse and his closest friend during the last three years of his life. Méry Laurent, born Anne Rose Suzanne Louviot (1849–1900), led an absolutely extraordinary life: the daughter of a laundress, with an unknown father, she was sold as a teenager to a man in exchange for an annuity, which allowed her to move to Paris, where she worked as a prostitute. After becoming the mistress of a wealthy American, her social connections and formidable personality placed her at the center of the Parisian avant-garde, surrounded by the writers and artists she entertained and loved, as she pleased. She was the muse of Mallarmé, Blanche and Gervex, and Édouard Manet, who painted her obsessively: “The Allegory of Autumn,” housed at the Nancy Museum of Fine Arts; “Méry Laurent Wearing a Small Toque,” at the Clark Art Institute; “Portrait of Méry Laurent in a Black Hat,” housed at the Dijon Museum of Fine Arts; “Méry Laurent with a Pug,” at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow; “Woman in a Tub” at the Musée d’Orsay; “At the Milliner’s” at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, “Méry Laurent in a Flowered Hat” at the Hiroshima Museum of Art, etc. Manet and Roses Manet’s watercolor still lifes were among the painter’s new obsessions. He began painting small-scale still lifes in oil, which he gave or sold to his friends. Charles Ephussi’s legendary asparagus, apples, and a few bouquets of roses—which, of course, should be compared to our watercolor: The Two Roses at MoMA (1882, SPC17.1990); Roses in a Champagne Glass (1882, Glasgow); Foamy Roses in a Vase (Clark Art Institute, 1955.556), etc. Bibliography: - MANET, Édouard (1832–1883). Illustrated Letters of Édouard Manet. Paris: Maurice Legarrec, 1929. - Manet 1832–1883, Paris, Grand Palais, 1983. - Françoise Cachin, *Manet: Letters to Isabelle, Méry, and Other Ladies*. Paris: Arts et Métiers Graphiques, Centre Georges Pompidou, Flammarion, Herscher, Skira, 1985. - Manet, Still Lifes, Musée d’Orsay, 2001. - Arnauld Le Busq, Manet: Illustrated Letters, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’image, 2002. - Leah Lehmbeck, "'L'Esprit de l'atelier': Manet's Late Portraits of Women, 1878–1883" in Manet, Portraying Life, London, Thames and Hudson, 2012. - Manet and Modern Beauty: The Artist’s Last Years, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, and Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2019.