Édouard Manet

Dr. O. Wertheimer, Paris
Acquired from the above in 1954

Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art & Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Edouard Manet, 1832-1883, 1966-67, no. 41, illustrated in the catalogue
Martigny, Switzerland, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Manet, 1996, no. 17, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Lillian Moore, "Édouard Manet, Painter of Spanish Dance," in Dance Magazine, XXVIII, New York, 1954, pp. 24-26
Michael Fried, "Manet's Sources: Aspects of his Art, 1859-1865," in Art Forum, March 1969, illustrated p. 37
Alain de Leiris, The Drawings of Édouard Manet, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1969, no. 222 (titled Escarpins)
Denis Rouart & Daniel Wildenstein, Édouard Manet, Catalogue raisonné, vol. II, Lausanne & Paris, 1975, no. 375, illustrated p.143
Michael Fried, Manet's Modernism or, The Face of Paintings in the 1860s, Chicago & London, 1996, illustrated p. 48

Executed on cream-colored laid paper. The sheet is very slightly time-darkened with a small spot of staining at upper right and mat staining is visible around the extreme perimeter. The sheet is hinged to a mount at two places on the top edge of the verso, and pencil sketch has been revealed on the verso. There is very light foxing, and a small watercolor brush mark is visible at upper right. The work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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No stranger to intimate portraiture, Manet explores a particular quality of closeness in Chaussons de danse. In her discussion of fashion’s influence on the Impressionists, curator Gloria Groom considers shoes “the fetishistic fascination surrounding this part of the wardrobe, which, in contrast to hats, was erotic because it clothed a part of the body that was never intended to be fully exposed. In many of the Impressionists’ intimate portraits, a mule or slippers dangling from the couch heightened the informal dishabille of the sitter” (Gloria Groom, “Edgar Degas: The Millinery Shop,” Impressionism, Fashion, & Modernity(exhibition catalogue), The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2012-13, p. 227).

It has been suggested that the present work is a preliminary study for the feet of the central figure in Manet’s oil of the same year, Spanish Ballet, which hangs in the Phillips Collection (see fig. 1). The accessible exoticism of all things Spanish was a frequent theme among the Impressionists.

Fig. 1 Édouard Manet, Spanish Ballet, oil on canvas, 1862, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.