Description
Madame Manet at the Piano is Édouard Manet’s portrait of his wife Suzanne, painted in 1867–68: dressed in black with sheer sleeves, she sits in profile at a dark reddish-brown piano and plays, with a grey wall of gilt-edged panels behind her and a mirror holding a clock and a pair of candlesticks. The original is oil on canvas, just 38 x 46.5 cm, and belongs to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Our painter makes yours entirely by hand in oil on canvas, in one of 8 landscape sizes between 40 x 32 and 150 x 120 cm, or made to measure. Before Suzanne and her piano travel to you, we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Madame Manet at the Piano |
| Other titles: | Madame Manet au piano (French title) |
| Painter: | Édouard Manet (1832–1883) |
| Year painted: | 1867–1868 |
| Original size: | 38 cm x 46.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Realism and Impressionism |
| Located at: | Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Madame Manet at the Piano – Édouard Manet
What do we see in Madame Manet at the Piano?
Suzanne Manet sits on a dark wooden chair, turned to the right so that we see her in profile. Her brown hair is pinned up in a bun, and she wears a high-necked black dress whose thin black sleeves let her skin show through. Both hands rest on the keys, and her gaze goes calmly to the music.
The piano, dark and reddish-brown, fills almost the whole right half of the canvas. On its stand is an open music book, suggested by Manet with a few pale strokes. To the left behind the player is a pale armchair under a light cover.
The background is a quiet grey wall divided into panels by slim gilt mouldings. At the top right hangs a mirror in a gilded frame, reflecting a gilt clock and a pair of candlesticks with white candles. This small still life in the mirror gives the flat wall depth and life.
Who was Suzanne, and why is she at the piano?
Suzanne Leenhoff was Dutch-born and two years older than the painter. In 1849 Manet’s father engaged her as piano teacher for his sons. A love affair grew between her and Édouard, and they married in 1863.
She was a gifted pianist and an interpreter of Schumann and Richard Wagner. When the poet Charles Baudelaire suffered a stroke in 1866 and lay in a Paris hospital, she played Wagner for him in his last days to distract him. The portrait puts exactly this talent at its centre.
Manet chose a fairly high viewpoint so that her hands on the keyboard are clearly visible.
Why is this portrait so well known?
Behind it lies a story of two painters. In 1868 Edgar Degas painted the Manets, with Suzanne at the piano and her husband listening from the couch. He gave the canvas to Manet, who was so angered by the way his wife had been painted that he cut off the part showing her.
Manet then painted his own, kinder version of her: this one. The art historian Diana Seave Greenwald writes that it closely resembles Whistler’s At the Piano, which Manet had seen.
Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was one of the first nineteenth-century artists to paint modern life and a pivotal figure between Realism and Impressionism; here he does it with a domestic scene and his own wife. The full story of Suzanne and the Degas canvas is told in the Wikipedia article on the painting, which is in English.
Where is the original today?
The original, oil on canvas measuring 38 x 46.5 cm (height x width), belongs to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, under inventory number RF 1994.
Suzanne sat for Manet in other works too, among them The Reading, where she sits on a sofa in a white dress while her son Léon reads aloud behind her.
Madame Manet at the Piano or another Manet?
This canvas painting belongs in a music room, beside a grand or an upright, or in the home of any pianist who would like a fellow player on the wall.
If Manet’s family interests you, look at Boy Carrying a Sword, in which Suzanne’s son Léon, dressed as a Spanish page, holds a heavy sword. Another side of the painter shows in Oysters, his first still life, with opened oysters and lemon, and in the religious work The Dead Christ with Angels, which he showed at the Salon of 1864.
To browse the other famous Manet paintings we paint to order, visit our Édouard Manet page.
How do we hand-paint Madame Manet at the Piano?
Manet’s original is a small oil on canvas with broad, loose brushwork. Yours becomes an oil painting reproduction, built up by our painter layer upon layer in oil on canvas, at the size you choose.
He first fixes the profile, the hands and the edge of the piano, because these decide whether the portrait holds. Then come the grey wall with its gilt mouldings, the deep black of the dress and the warm brown of the wood. Last he adds the sheer sleeves, the glint of the clock and candlesticks in the mirror and a few pale strokes for the music.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 40 x 32 or 45 x 37 cm above an upright piano, on a shelf or on a narrow wall, 56 x 48 and 74 x 59 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 85 x 67 and 105 x 85 cm above a sofa, and 120 x 95 or 150 x 120 cm for a large wall at home or in a music room.
We paint it in 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 40 x 32, 45 x 37, 56 x 48, 74 x 59, 85 x 67, 105 x 85, 120 x 95 and 150 x 120 cm. The original measures 46.5 x 38 cm (width x height), so 40 x 32 cm is a little smaller, 45 x 37 cm almost the same, and all six sizes from 56 x 48 cm up enlarge it, the largest to more than three times its width.
As a painting for the living room it works best at 105 x 85 or 120 x 95 cm above a sofa or a grand piano. Above an upright, 74 x 59 or 85 x 67 cm often looks best, as it does not overpower the instrument below.
Can I have another size or a frame?
Yes. For other proportions we keep the profile, the hands and the piano whole and adjust only the margin of grey wall. Send us your preferred size, and we reply with a price and a delivery date.
We ship it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia handles stretching and framing. You pick the moulding for this pianist’s portrait in our 3D app, which is for choosing the frame only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A slim gold moulding picks up the gilt panels and the mirror frame, while dark wood answers the warm tone of the piano.
When will your painting arrive?
Once you confirm, the painter starts on the profile and the hands, and within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to travel. Before packing you see the finished portrait in a photograph, and we make any changes you ask for.
Your portrait travels within Slovenia and across the EU with no customs duties, and our returns policy applies to the order.
A portrait of a woman at the piano makes a fine gift for a pianist, a music teacher or someone who has just bought a piano. If you do not know the wall, give a wall art voucher and let them choose the size.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, inventory number RF 1994.
Who is playing the piano?
Suzanne Manet, née Leenhoff, the painter’s wife and a gifted pianist, who once taught piano to Édouard and his younger brother.
Is this a print?
No. You receive a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, every stroke made by our painter.
How big is the original?
It measures 38 x 46.5 cm (height x width); all our sizes from 56 x 48 cm up are larger.
Can I order a size that is not listed?
Yes. Send us the width and height you need, and we will prepare an offer with a price and a delivery time.
How long do painting and delivery take?
The painting is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days, and you receive a photograph of it first.
Is it right for a music room, or as a gift for a pianist?
Very much so. A woman at the piano suits a music room, a music school or a living room with an instrument, and for a pianist it is a personal gift.
What does the portrait mean?
Manet uses it to honour Suzanne’s talent at the piano; he painted it after cutting her figure from the canvas by Degas.
- Subject: Suzanne Manet in black plays a dark piano, with a grey wall and a mirror holding a clock and candlesticks behind her.
- Original: oil on canvas, 1867–68, 38 x 46.5 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
- Ours: your own Édouard Manet reproduction, worked by hand in oil on canvas in 8 sizes (40 x 32 to 150 x 120 cm) or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: Manet painted it after cutting his wife out of a canvas by Degas.
