Édouard Manet - Spring. Le Printemps 1881
Spring. Le Printemps 1881
74x51cm oil/canvas
Sold for: USD 65.1 million
Auction house: Christie's, New York
Sale date: 5 November 2014
Seller: Anonymous owner
Buyer: The J. Paul Getty Museum
From The J. Paul Getty Museum:
A chic young woman in a day dress with floral accents holds a parasol against a background of exuberant foliage. She looks straight ahead, a picture of poise and detachment even as she seems fully aware of the viewer's admiring gaze. Representing aspiring Parisian actress Jeanne Demarsy as the embodiment of Spring, this portrait debuted at the last major public exhibition of Manet's life, the Paris Salon of 1882. For more than two decades, Manet's paintings were rejected by the Salon or met with controversy; Spring was the most unalloyed success of the artist's Salon career, a career that ended tragically a year later when Manet died of causes related to syphilis.