ZOLA, Emile. Lot n° 1264

Ed. Manet. Biographical and critical study. Accompanied by a portrait of Éd. Manet by Bracquemond and an etching by Éd. Manet after Olympia. Paris, E. Dentu, 1867. In-8 (237 x 151 mm) of 48 pp., 2 original etchings; midnight blue half-marocco with corners, spine ribbed, gilded head, blue cover and preserved spine (M. Godillot). Original edition. This brochure was sold at the retrospective exhibition organized by Manet himself, in a pavilion built at his own expense at the Alma, on the fringes of the 1867 Universal Exhibition and Salon, from which he had been excluded. "I hope that she will set fire to the powders," the artist said in this first monograph devoted to him. The illustration includes a portrait of the artist engraved by Bracquemond, as a frontispiece, and an original etching by Edouard Manet depicting his painting Olympia. This engraving, which Zola had described as the painter's "masterpiece", bears witness to their friendship and their work together for the success of the retrospective exhibition, which was, alas, a complete failure. We know that it was Caillebotte who finally got the Olympia, which he considered essential in the history of art, accepted in the Louvre. The year following this publication, Manet painted the portrait of the writer that is now kept at the Musee d'Orsay. Very good copy; bit rubs. Harris, Édouard Manet. The Graphic work, 1990, No. 53.