The Rabbit

Date: 1881

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 97.5 x 61.0 cm

Acquired: 1952; Bequest; Gwendoline Davies

Accession Number: NMW A 2466

The Davies Sisters Collection

Towards the end of his life, Manet was increasingly drawn towards still life. Here is shown a rabbit hanging outside between a window and a trellis. It is one of four decorative panels which he painted in the summer of 1881 near Versailles. That year Manet finally received a medal from the Salon and was made a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur. This subject is traditional, but its free technique is assertively Impressionist. Gwendoline Davies purchased this work at Paris in December 1917.