# The Spanish Singer

**Édouard Manet** (French, 1832–1883)  
1860  
Oil on canvas  
58 x 45 in. (147.3 x 114.3 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 49.58.2. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436944).

## About this work

A guitarist in Spanish costume sits on a bench, singing as he plays. Manet painted him in 1860 from a model posed in the studio, at a time when all things Spanish were the fashion in Paris, and the picture won an honourable mention at the Salon of 1861, his first official success. Musicians soon noticed that the guitar is strung for a right-handed player but held left-handed, a reminder that the scene was staged. The broad, frank handling owes much to Velázquez and Goya.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Édouard Manet painted this in 1860, aged 28. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Édouard Manet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edouard-manet)

French, 1832–1883; born in Paris; died in Paris

Manet came from a prosperous Parisian family, trained under Thomas Couture and studied the old masters, Velázquez above all. In the 1860s he provoked critics with Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, modern subjects painted in flat, frank colour with little modelling. Though he never showed with the Impressionists, younger painters looked to him as a leader, and in his last years he painted Parisian café life and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 28
- Real size: about 58 × 45 in (147 × 114 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Men, Portraits, Music, Guitars, Musicians, Singers
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1124.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1124/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-spanish-singer-met-436944).