Woman with a Cigarette
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Manet never exhibited this painting, and no record of its original title or date has been discovered. The work most likely reflects the contemporary fascination with Spanish culture and may have been inspired by Georges Bizet’s Carmen, the opera about a woman who worked in a cigarette factory, which premiered in Paris in 1875. With a cigarette dangling from her lips, one hand on her hip, and the elbow of her other arm leaning on the back of a horse, Manet depicted this woman as someone outside the rigorously coded formality of Parisian high society. Edgar Degas bought the painting in 1896.
Artwork Details
- Title: Woman with a Cigarette
- Artist: Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1878–80
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 36 1/4 × 28 15/16 in. (92 × 73.5 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Princeton University Art Museum. Bequest of Archibald S. Alexander, Class of 1928 (y1979-55)
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings