Édouard Manet
French, 1832–1883
Interior at Arcachon
1871
Manet painted this domestic scene while staying in a seaside town in southwestern France. He never exhibited it, perhaps because its subject was deeply personal. The artist had recently reunited with his family after serving in the National Guard, defending Paris during the Franco-Prussian war. His wife looks up from her writing to enjoy the view, while her son holds what appears to be a cigarette, seemingly lost in thought. The loose, sketchy technique gives the painting an intimate, informal quality.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 15 7/16 x 21 1/4 in. (39.2 x 54 cm) Frame: 22 3/8 x 28 3/16 x 2 1/4 in. (56.8 x 71.6 x 5.7 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.552 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Édouard Manet, Interior at Arcachon, 1871, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.552
Provenance
[Possibly Durand-Ruel, Paris];¹ Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (by 1902–7); Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York, by descent (1907–d. 1929); Electra Havemeyer Webb, New York, her daughter, by descent (1929–43, consigned to Knoedler, 1 Apr. 1943);² [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 12 Apr. 1943, as Intérieur de la Famille Manet à Arcachon]; Robert Sterling Clark (1943–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. The Havemeyers may have bought this painting from Durand-Ruel, as they did many of their other Manets, but this work does not appear in the dealer’s stock book. See Françoise Cachin and Charles Moffett, Manet: 1832–1883, p. 331, and Alice Cooney Freylinghausen, et al., Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, p. 355. 2. The painting was also on deposit at Durand-Ruel, New York, 13–16 Feb. 1931. See Alice Cooney Freylinghausen, et al., Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, p. 355.
