Head of Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830–1914)

Painted in the winter of 1882–83, this study of the baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure was one of three executed in preparation for a portrait left unfinished when Manet died a few months later. Earlier, Manet had painted a full-length portrait of the singer in the role of Hamlet (Folkwang Museum, Essen), which drew adverse criticism when it was shown in the Salon of 1877; Faure, who owned many paintings by Manet, refused to accept it.