A Manet Dog Portrait Goes to Auction after 142 Years

A small sensation, this small portrait of a dog will be auctioned in Paris by Drouot on 26 February. The artist of the work was Édouard Manet, who captured the little Griffon named Minnay in oil on canvas around 1879. The resulting work was donated to its owner, whose heirs have kept it in the family to this day.

Minnay's owner was Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille, daughter of the owner of the Père Lathuille inn in the Batignolles district in the north of Paris, which was popular with the Impressionists.

Around the same time that he completed the portrait of Minnay, Manet painted a portrait of Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille (also known as La jeune fille en blanc). However, Manet's work on the two paintings was entirely different. While he made preparatory sketches of the young woman on site, as the portrait was a gift to Marguerite's father, the portrait of Minnay seems to have been made in the moment, as its quick brushstrokes reveal.

See also: On and Off the Canvas: Art's Most Famous Muses

Despite this spontaneity, Manet managed to capture the liveliness of the small, fluffy dog ​​perfectly, which is a testament to his ability and technique.

Others also seem to have noticed the quality of the work in the painting: the art dealer Paul Rosenberg asked Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille in a letter in 1928 to sell him the portrait. However, she refused and the painting remained in the family's possession to this day. In 1975 it was included in Manet's catalogue raisonné, but has not been on public display since it was painted. Now, Drouot will offer it up with an estimated price of €220,000-280,000 (£193,000-245,000).

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