New perspectives on masterpieces

The portrait of Eva Gonzalès, a well-known painting by Édouard Manet (1832-1883), was created around 1869. It shows the young woman seated painting a still life of flowers. Now the portrait is being presented in a fresh way in London: The National Gallery contrasts it with recent X-rays of the painting, as well as self-portraits by famous women painters such as Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Angelica Kauffmann and Berthe Morisot. The former show Manet's many new beginnings and overpaintings of important parts such as the face. They also shed light on how he added small objects afterwards to convey a sense of spontaneous creation in the painting. These interesting insights will be available to visitors from 21 October to 15 January.

Eva Gonzalès (1847-1883) was an Impressionist French painter and Manet's only pupil. She exhibited several times at the Paris Salon, the centre of cultural life in 19th century France. Her main subjects included portraits of women, still lifes and landscapes. She died in childbirth due to an embolism and only five days after Manet's death.