
Portrait of a Woman with a Black Fichu
Édouard Manet · c. 1878
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 62.2 × 51.2 cm (24 1/2 × 20 1/8 in.); Framed: 83.8 × 72.7 × 10.8 cm (33 × 28 5/8 × 4 1/4 in.)
- Currently held
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Movement
- Impressionism
Quiet and self-possessed, this intimate portrait captures a woman in three-quarter profile, her dark fichu a striking counterpoint to the soft warmth of her complexion — a composition that feels both spontaneous and inevitable. Manet painted it at a moment when he was refining his approach to portraiture: looser in execution than his earlier work, more attuned to the psychological presence of his subjects. His brushwork is confident and direct, building form through broad strokes rather than careful blending, a method that kept the image alive and unsentimental. Where other painters of his era labored over surfaces, Manet trusted the gesture. The painting's use of black is characteristically Manet. Critics and contemporaries long remarked on his ability to deploy black as a fully active color — luminous rather than merely dark — a quality he shared with the Old Masters he admired most, particularly Velázquez and Frans Hals. It is no accident that this simple accessory anchors the entire composition. Our hand-painted oil reproduction faithfully renders Manet's characteristic touch — the spontaneity of his marks, the tonal confidence, the sense of a real person caught in a real moment — bringing the spirit of the original from the Art Institute of Chicago into your home.
Hand-painted oil reproduction
Painted in real oil on stretched canvas by master copyists. Delivered unframed — ready to frame at home.
Choose a size
In Manet's style.
Send us a photograph of your family, pet, or home — we'll paint it as a custom oil on stretched canvas in any style you like. From £220.

← Real customer commission · see the full gallery
Code WELCOME20 at checkout for 20% off your first commission.
Commission yours →




