Dead Toreador

Manet made this etching in 1867 or 1868, based on his painting The Dead Toreador, which he had exhibited at his solo show in 1867. The painting itself is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The composition is horizontal, roughly 16 by 8 inches. A bullfighter lies dead on the ground, his body stretched horizontally across the lower portion of the image. He wears the traje de luces, the bullfighter's costume, with dark stockings and a short jacket. His head is tilted back, his eyes closed. A small pool of dark tone appears near his shoulder. The background is almost entirely empty, a pale expanse with a faint horizon line. The figure is small in relation to the overall format, emphasizing the isolation of death. Manet had painted The Dead Toreador after seeing a bullfight in Spain in 1865. The painting was originally part of a larger composition called Incident at a Bullfight, which Manet cut apart after it was poorly received. The lower section became The Dead Toreador, and the upper section became a separate painting of bullfight spectators. This etching reproduces the lower section and was made for a portfolio of prints that Manet published to reach a wider audience than his paintings could. Manet's bullfight subjects belong to his Spanish period, which ran from the late 1850s to the late 1860s. He had been drawn to Spanish subjects since his first submissions to the Salon, and his 1865 trip to Spain confirmed his admiration for Velazquez and Goya. The Dead Toreador, with its horizontal format and empty background, is one of the most radical compositions of his career. Etching and aquatint on blue laid paper, 40.6 by 20.3 centimeters. The print combines line etching for the figure with aquatint for the tonal areas. The blue paper gives the pale background a cool tint. The horizontal format and somber subject of this print make it suitable for a study, library, or hallway with dark or cool-toned walls. It pairs with black frames and minimal decor. The 16x20 framed version in a black frame is the most appropriate choice. The Met's impression came through the bequest of Scofield Thayer in 1982. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 24x36 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.