Roses in a Crystal Vase by Edouard Manet

Roses in a Crystal Vase by Edouard Manet

In the last months of his life, forced to be still, Edgar Mane painted a series of still lifes of great beauty, finding in the most simple and everyday things a source of inspiration and study.

In the summer of 1882, from July to October, Manet rented a small villa in Ruel, where he devoted himself to painting still lifes and where he received his friends. The house was not particularly comfortable and had only a small garden. There he spent his last summer, Manet, in the hope of improvement, which unfortunately did not happen.

Friends came every day, enjoyed his brilliant conversations and his lively mind, which was not broken by illness. Every day, maid Laurent Mary brought flowers to the master on behalf of the lady. Thanks to the daily visits, the second portrait of Eliza was born, but then Manet was forced to give up his brushes, and the picture remained unfinished.

The canvas was found by his wife after the death of Manet on the easel. The freshness and liveliness of flower arrangements in the last years of Manet’s life show a person in love with life. Manet said in 1876: “Each work should be a new creation of the spirit. We must put aside the memories, see only what you see and look at things as if for the first time.”

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