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The Fifer by Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet, 1866

$200.00

Item no. PDEDW003-00

Order within 31d 15h 24m 14s to have it by ChristmasOrder by Mon, Nov 30, 11:59 PM ET

A boy against nothing: Édouard Manet’s The Fifer, from the Musée d’Orsay, on stretched canvas, framed, or on fine art paper.

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We write it on a card and tuck it in behind the painting. The price never appears in the box.

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Subtotal $200.00
  • Printed to order in 1–3 business days
  • Free US shipping, tracked, 5–12 business days
  • 30-day returns and exchanges
  • Damage cover included: we remake and reship
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Questions about sizes or framing? Ask us

This painting is vivid red, deep black and soft grey, and a cheap copy turns it flat and muddy. Our Manet The Fifer print is made from the museum’s own photograph, unretouched, so the red stays bright.

Canvas, framed or paper

Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.

Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.

Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.

Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.

Sizes

20x36 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.

On your wall

Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The reds, blacks and greys look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a black or natural wood frame suits it.

About the painting

The Fifer by Édouard Manet

The painter of modern life

Édouard Manet painted the Paris of his own day — crowds, cafés, friends and boating — in a bold, direct style that shocked the Salon and inspired the Impressionists.

After Velázquez

In Madrid in 1865 Manet discovered Velázquez. Back in Paris he painted a boy fifer standing against an empty grey space, like a Spanish court portrait.

Rejected

The 1866 Salon turned it down, and Émile Zola wrote in his defence. It entered the French national collections in 1911.

Listen to the story

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Read the story

A boy stands alone, playing a fife. He wears a dark jacket, bright red trousers with a black stripe, white gaiters and a little cap. And around him there is nothing. No room, no floor, no shadow, just a flat, soft grey.

In 1865 Édouard Manet travelled to Madrid and saw the paintings of Diego Velázquez in the Prado. He called them a revelation.

Back in Paris the next year, he painted this young musician from a military band, the way Velázquez painted Spanish kings and jesters: one figure, standing, against an empty space.

Because there is nothing around him, you cannot tell how big he is, or how far away.

The jury of the 1866 Salon rejected it. Furious, the young writer Émile Zola published a series of newspaper articles defending Manet.

The painting later belonged to the singer Jean-Baptiste Faure, and then to the collector Isaac de Camondo. It entered the French national collection in 1911.

The Fifer. Édouard Manet, 1866.

How each piece is brought to life

Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.

  1. The Fifer by Édouard Manet: a boy in a dark jacket, red trousers and cap playing a fife against a plain grey background

    Graded against the original

    We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.

  2. The Fifer by Édouard Manet as a stretched canvas above a linen lounge chair in a reading corner

    Printed for you

    Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.

  3. The Fifer by Édouard Manet framed in natural oak above a cream sofa in a warm living room

    On your wall

    It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.

Questions

Is this the original painting?

No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.

Will the colour look flat?

This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.

Will the edges be cropped?

Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.

Which size is right for my wall?

Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.

How long does it take?

Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.

Can I return it?

Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.

Printed to order

Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.

The whole painting

Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.

Free US shipping

On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.

30-day returns

Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.

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