Samuel Augustus Mitchell, 1860, A Map of France, Spain and Portugal
First, to understand Manet’s bullfights, the foundation for his Spanish taste must be established. After years of Moorish rule and political uncertainty, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella formulated a homogeneous, prosperous Spanish society, which reached its Golden Age of international reverence under Phillip II in the late 16th century. Spain’s exclusivity began to unravel under Bourbon rule in the 18th century and completely eroded by the Napoleonic War (Phillips). The French control of Spain in conjunction with the growing popularity of Romanticism during the 19th century created a revived French interest in Spanish culture. Gautier, a Romantic essayist and poet, traveled to Spain and wrote numerous travel accounts of his “exotic” encounter. His Spanish fascination influenced Prosper Merimee’s novel Carmen, publicized Francisco Goya to the French art sphere, and sparked curiosity about bullfighting (Isaacson 9). In 1839, King Louis-Phillipe, requested the installation of a Spanish painting exhibit, which included works by Velazquez and El Greco. This exhibition remained in the Louvre for nearly ten years, influencing many mid-19th century artists to re-create Spanish themed works for the Salon (Rich 1-2).
Eduoard Manet studied the Spanish works of the Louvre under the instruction of Thomas Couture, who encouraged him to copy works by the old masters of Spanish art (Farwell). According to the art historian Juliet Wilson-Bareau, from Diego Velazquez, Manet learned to love the Spanish “simple-handling” of colors and subject (Manet and Spain 205). He embraced the Spanish technique and selected certain elements of Spanish works to compose his own works. Manet experts argue about the originality of the “recomposing of copies” in his Spanish works, but his borrowing of Spanish ideas accentuates his obvious interest in the Spanish motif and culture (Rudd 747).
Eduoard Manet, The Spanish Singer, 1861. Oil on Canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Manet capitalized on his interest in Spanish culture and the French demand for “all things Spanish” to gain respect in the art world and acceptance by the Salon. The Salon and its jury, funded by the French government during the 19th century, decided what works were “good” enough to endorse in the annual exhibit. Despite the fact that it held on to more traditional art ideals, artists competed to appeal to and exhibit with the Salon to gain national and critical praise to help their artistic careers (Duro). As noted before, Spanish themes were revered by French society during the 1850s and 1860s; even Baudelaire idealized the Romantic art of Goya (Hanson 80). He approved of Manet’s interest in Spanish technique by noting that Manet was a “Spanish genius taking refuge in France (qtd. in Armstrong 96).” Inspired by Baudelaire’s praise and Spanish popularity, Manet created Spanish themed paintings to submit to the Salon. The Salon accepted and awarded an honorable mention to his very Spanish themed, The Spanish Singer, in 1861 (Isaacson 12). The success of the Spanish theme, increase of audience demand, and training in Spanish technique influenced Manet to expand his depiction of the Spanish culture to the ultimate Spanish tradition, bullfighting. After reading travel reports about bullfights, Manet used his imagination (and copying of Velazquez and Goya) to recreate the bullfight scenes (Armstrong 97).