In the late 19th century in Paris, Spain and dancing became two subjects that fascinated artists and especially the work of Velasquez, which they began to see at the Louvre. His lights and darks and rendering of real characters captivated them.

This work, Lola de Valence, now in the Musee d'Orsay, was painted in Manet's Spanish Year, 1862, when all of his favorite models were rendered a l'espagnole. (The Luncheon on the Grass, soon after, was to take it all off!)

Manet did not visit Spain until 1965. And then his work became even more imbued with Velasquez. But Victor Hugo had written Hernani, set in Spain. Delacroix had already been. When Manet finally got to Spain, to the Prado, his obsession with Velasquez was confirmed. He wrote to Baudelaire telling him he thought he was the 'greatest artist there had ever been...I discovered in his work the fulfillment of my own ideals....and the sight of these masterpieces gave me enormous courage and hope. " Baudelaire, in turn, wrote this:

Lola de Valence
Entre tant de beautés que partout on peut voir, Je contemple bien, amis, que le désir balance; Mais on voit scintiller en Lola de Valence Le charme inattendu d’un bijou rose et noir.
— Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal (1868)

Among such beauties as one can see everywhere I understand, my friends, that desire hesitates; But one sees sparkling in Lola of Valencia The unexpected charm of a black and rose jewel.

There are so many affecting things about Manet’s portrait of his sister-in-law, painter Berthe Morisot, begun in 1869. It's winter. Morisot is wearing a fur coat and muff and a violet hat of velvet trimmed with grey plumes. Manet painted her 11 times over many seasons and with many hats. He was fashionable and so was she. He was famously popular with the ladies and is the one who introduced her to his brother.

She was a supposed great-niece of Fragonard's so painting was already in the family. They met copying paintings at the Louvre. But Morisot in fact was the one who introduced Manet to Degas, Monet, Renoir and Cezanne among others in her circle. Her plein air painting had a great influence on him.

At the time of the portrait, Morisot was still mostly working in watercolors. But at the age of 23 she was accepted at the career defining Salon in 1864. Yet there is a certain tentativeness, an almost nervous energy one can still see five years later. Morisot had trouble convincing her parents to let her pursue a serious career.

Violet was a color Manet associated with her. The touches of violet become still more pronounced in a well loved later painting he did of her with a bouquet of violets after her father had died. Though this portrait is a lot tamer than the Dejeuner sur L'Herbe or the Olympia which had made his reputation, it still has the intensity of that work. It has a dynamic, fleeting quality that was certainly impressionistic, yet had hallmarks of his signature style where figures emerged from the black. He kept this portrait throughout his life.