During the 1860s Manet undertook a series of portraits of the people in the street around his studio from the vacant lots and construction sites. This is one of the most successful from the series, featuring a homeless man who would have gathered scrap pieces of cloth to sell to paper manufacturers. He stands in front of an indistinct background, hit with dramatic light, looking intense. The sack over his shoulder would have held his finds. Manet paints this homeless man similarly to the way he painted prestigious actors and young musicians, affording the man a sense of dignity, despite the pile of rubbish at his feet which likely reflected his environment.
SKU: 10924
Creator: Edouard Manet
Date: 1869
Original Medium: oil on canvas
Location: Private Collection