Édouard Manet

Studio of the artist (and sold: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 4-5, 1884, lot 116)
M. de la Narde (acquired at the above sale)
Eugène Manet
Julie Manet-Rouart
Collection Rouart, Paris
James Goodman Gallery, New York
Galerie Nichido, Tokyo 
Private Collection, Japan (acquired from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 3, 2010, lot 141)
Acquired at the above sale

Théodore Duret, Histoire d'Edouard Manet et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1902, no. 78
Etienne Moreau-Nelaton, Manet Raconté par Lui-mème, Paris, 1926, no. 420
Paul Jamot, Georges Wildenstein & Marie-Louise Bataille, Manet, Paris, 1932, no. 471
Adolphe Tabarant, Manet et ses oeuvres, Paris, 1947, no. 474, illustrated p. 338
Merete Bodelson, "Early Impressionists Sales, 1874-1894," Burlington Magazine, June 1968, no. 116, illustrated p. 343
Denis Rouart & Sandra Orienti, Tout l'oeuvre peint d'Edouard Manet, Paris, 1970, no. 261
Denis Rouart & Daniel Wildenstein, Edouard Manet Catalogue raisonné, vol. II, Geneva, 1975, no. 32, illustrated p. 15

Work is in very good condition. Canvas is not lined. Scattered small stains in background. Due to weave of canvas, application of pastel is visibly uneven and there are some tiny pindots of loss in the areas of thickest application. Otherwise fine, colors are bright and fresh.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The spirited yet highly precise application of pastel found in Jeune homme à barbe blonde underscores Manet's masterful skill in rendering the lively and intimate character of his subjects. While the sitter of the present work is unknown, his intense gaze and energetic bearing speak to the artist's talents at conveying much from a sparing and seemingly spontaneous use of his medium. George Moore, an Irish critic and writer whom Manet depicted in pastel in 1879, described the experience of sitting for the artist: "Strictly speaking he had no method; painting with him was pure instinct. Painting was one of the ways his nature manifested itself in everything that concerned him—in his large plain studio, full of light as a conservatory; in his simple scrupulous clothes, and yet with a touch of the dandy about them... never was an artist's inner nature in more direct conformity with his work" (George Moore in a letter of 1898, reprinted in Theresa Ann Gronberg, ed., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manet, A Retrospective(exhibition catalogue), New York, 1988, p. 252).

His process of portraiture was long and thoroughly thought out; as Monet reported, “Manet made things very difficult for himself: he had a laborious and careful method. He always wanted his paintings to look as if done at the first attempt; but often, in the evening, he scraped down with his palette knife everything that he had done during the day” (quoted in Maryanne Stevens, “Manet: Portraying Life. Themes and Variations,” Manet: Portraying Life (exhibition catalogue), London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2013, pp. 20-21). It is this very process of working and reworking that makes the offered work so fascinating, as it provides insight into the working method of the artist. His use of the pastel to depict such dapper young sitter, caught perhaps in a moment of debate, bears resemblance to the vivacious quality of his portrait of the Symbolist poet and art critic Stéphane Mallarmé, now in the Musée d’Orsay. As in many of Manet's greatest works, the artist blurs the distinctions between the illusionistic purposes of his technique and the pure visual delight of medium manipulated for the pleasure of the eye.