Description

Along with Beggar with a Duffle Coat, Beggar with Oysters formed part of a series of four paintings collectively called The Philosophers. The title refers to traditional representations of the ancient stoic philosophers, whose poverty was associated with wisdom. The anonymous men in these paintings would have been recognizable to Édouard Manet’s contemporary audience as urban types—social outcasts populating the streets of Paris. By depicting them at such a large scale and set against empty, dark backgrounds, Manet subverted expectations for paint-ing at the time, granting his figures a portrait-like, even heroic presence typically reserved for noble, historical, or religious subjects. Through his format and series title, the artist encouraged viewers to see these often-disregarded people as possessing rare insight.

Provenance

The artist, until 1872; sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, January 1872, for 1,000 or 1,500 francs [per Durand-Ruel and Durand-Ruel, 2011, 284–85]; sold to Jean-Baptiste Faure (d. 1914), Paris, November 13, 1882, along with two other paintings for 5,750 francs (known as “Philosophies”) [per the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1877 (as no. 1189) and in the stock book for 1880–84 (as no. 1171, Le Mendiant, and also as no. 2628, Le Philosophe); copy of archival reference in curatorial object file]; sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, October 16, 1894, for 10,000 francs [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891 (no. 3136); copy of archival reference in curatorial object file]; sold to Arthur Jerome Eddy (d. 1920), Chicago, October 16, 1894, for 20,000 francs; by descent to Mrs. Arthur Jerome Eddy (née Lucy C. Orrell) and Jerome O. Eddy, Chicago, by 1920; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1931.