''The Spanish Singer'' is an 1860 oil painting on canvas by the French painter

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

, conserved since 1949 at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

of New York. Composed in Manet's studio, it employed a model and props which were later used for at least one other painting. This work, both realistic and exotic in its depiction of its subject, exhibits the influence of Spanish art, especially that of Diego Velázquez, on Manet's style. Manet, due to this painting, was accepted for the first time at the Salon of Paris in 1861, where he also exhibited a portrait of his parents. ''The Spanish Singer'' received positive criticism at the time and won a decent mention. It was appreciated by French writer

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...

, and by French journalist and literary critic

Theophile Gautier Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...

, who praised the painting for its "very true color" and "vigorous brush". Manet consequently became the leader of the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

movement and inspired a group of young artists, including

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

and Carolus-Duran, who decided to visit Manet's studio.

Spanish Themes by Manet in the MET

File:A Matador MET DT1933.jpg , ''A Matador'' 1866–67 File:Young Man in the Costume of a Majo MET DT862.jpg, ''Young Man in the Costume of a Majo'' 1863 File:Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada MET DT859.jpg, ''Mademoiselle Victorine Meurent in the Costume of an Espada'' 1862

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Singer 1860 paintings 19th-century portraits Musical instruments in art Portraits by Édouard Manet Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Portraits of men