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JOBARDE: A REDISCOVERED PAINTING BY ÉDOUARD MANET Introduction by Caitlin Kelly Painter Édouard Manet is a towering figure in art history. His seismic contributions cannot be overstated. Through his use of simple compositional structures, clear bold colors, and a distinctively broad, flat handling of paint, Manet paved the way for the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and many other modern artists by rejecting the standards of the Academy. In the course of his brief career lasting only between 1860 and 1883, Manet’s body of work reflected an astonishing variety of motifs and changes in style. Such diversity in Manet’s artwork reflects the artist’s far-reaching ambitions – his methods were constantly under review in pursuit of a truly modern style of painting. Yet, it is this same commitment by the artist to experimentation that has proven a major stumbling block for art historical scholarship: the chronology of Manet’s life is not sufficiently documented, nor the sequence of his paintings completely clear. As a result, the potential for lost or previously unknown paintings by the artist to resurface in the modern day is a real one. But to claim attribution is easy – proving attribution requires a rigorous interdisciplinary analysis of a painting’s documented history, technique, and scientific analysis of style and materials. Presented in collaboration with the world-renown Atelier for Restoration & Research of Paintings (ARRS), ‘Jobarde: A Rediscovered Painting by Édouard Manet’ takes audiences through each step of the fine art authentication process in order to demonstrate how one can know and can verify the authenticity of Jobarde.
Fig. 1 Jobarde, circa 1872-1875, oil on canvas, 33.7 x 19.9 inches (85.6 x 50.5 cm)
Of late, stories of questionable attribution and outright forgeries have come to dominate the public’s perception of the fine art industry. Headline-grabbing disputes of the authenticity of the notorious painting Salvator Mundi – attributed by some to Leonardo da Vinci – and the unforgivable trade in fake Modern & Post-War paintings by Knoedler Gallery made famous by Netflix’s documentary Made You Look impressed upon us the need for greater industry transparency. Through our inaugural exhibition, we raise questions about the art world’s current accepted procedures for fine art authentication and present a newer, more
