The Theatrical Bullfight

Because he never attended an authentic Spanish bullfight, Manet’s bullfight depictions were more theatrical than authentic in his early career. The artist used the canvas as a “stage” and presented models in bullfighting costumes in bullfighting “scenes” to convey the sense of the “act” of bullfighting. The character’s lack of physical interaction with the bullfighting scene make the bullfight appear more like a Spanish act rather than an authentic bullfight. The absence of jabs, jumps, and lunges by the characters in the actual fight suggest acting rather than authenticity. For example, in his 1862, Mme. V… in the Costume of an Espada, Manet portrayed the French model, Mademoiselle Victorine, in Spanish bullfighting garments. Juliet Wilson-Bareau notes that Mademoiselle Victorine is “posed to look Spanish” (Manet and Spain 220) rather than be Spanish. Trying to brandish her sword in the air, Mademoiselle Victorine poses awkwardly, while a bull charges at a “picador” in the opposite background. By assuming a heroic pose and not interacting with the bullfight, Mme. Victorine looks more like an actress advertising a spectacle than engaging in a murder. As Anne Hanson considers in Manet and the Modern Tradition, “Except for costume, Victorine’s figure seems to have no connection with Spanish art” (80). The model’s unconvincing sword-fight-action does not physically connect with the Spanish bullfight in the background, which is probably a result of Manet’s ignorance of the events that take place in an actual bullfight. Still, if Manet intended Mademoiselle Victorine to wear the “espada” costume to only appear Spanish, her unrealistic brandishing pose seems very whimsical. French art critics and art viewers had visited Spain or read Spanish travel accounts, and they had an idea of an active “espada”. Due to the fact that the “espada” pose lacked thespian quality, Mademoiselle Victorine’s sword fight seemed unbelievable as a bullfight. His reliance on previous accounts to impress the Salon hindered his ability to create the essence of a bullfight, making his bullfighting works instead look staged.

The fact that Manet used females dressed in bullfighting attire added to the inaccuracy of bullfighting and the staged effect of the characters in the works. Specifically, his women in the sketch of a Young Woman in a Toreador’s Costume (1862) and Mme. V… in the Costume of an Espada stress the theatrical spirit of the bullfight to Manet by showing females as bullfighters. Females do not fight in traditional bullfights; therefore, by posing females in male-only bullfighting positions, Manet automatically eliminated convincing physical character interaction in his bullfights. By representing a female posing as a male bullfighting hero, Manet did not present the authentic fight of the bullfight, mocking it as a theatrical spectacle. This clearly shows that Manet used the bullfight theme only to whet the Spanish appetite of his potential audience. Manet’s ignorance toward authenticity reflects his interest in promoting the exotica of the bullfight in order to attract praise from viewers. Due to the abundance of nearly two decades worth of exotica inspired by the Spanish works of the Louvre, posed- Spanish scenes were exhausted. Audiences wanted to experience the excitement that they read in travel accounts rather than only look at costumes. Manet’s unconvincing bullfight scenes with inactive-fight characters did not communicate authenticity, which turned off audiences.

Manet continued to pose characters as bullfighters but not engage them physically in the actual fight. As seen in Young Man in the Costume of a Majo (1863), Manet depicts his brother posing as a stagnate majo. Wilson-Bareau in Manet and Spain refers to Manet’s act of using Spanish costume as “hispancizing Frenchmen” (224). The figure stands with a pole and majo costume to just appear Spanish. He does not engage in a bullfight or bullfight event, he stares off toward the side of the picture. This plain stance does not convey a sense of bullfighting, just a chic Spanish costume. The lack of authenticity in the majo and other “costume” works enforces Manet’s ignorance of the essence of bullfighting. Bullfighting remains fantastical in Manet’s eyes because he only expresses his affinity toward the bullfight-concept that he has read about and seen, but not experienced.

(Top) Eduoard Manet, Mme. V… in the Costume of an Espada, 1862. Oil on Canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

(Middle) Eduoard Manet, Young Woman in Toreador's Costume, 1862. Oil on Canvas. Carleton Mitchell Collection, New York.

(Bottom) Eduoard Manet, Young Man in the Costume of a Majo, 1863. Oil on Canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.