A Man on Crutches

Art Historical Context

Édouard Manet's *A Man on Crut* (1878) captures a poignant moment of human vulnerability through the artist's masterful printmaking. Created with brush and lithographic ink transfer paper, this intimate drawing—measuring just 10 11/16 x 7 3/4 inches—was likely a preparatory study for transfer lithography, a technique where the image is printed from paper onto a lithographic stone. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it exemplifies Manet's exploration of everyday subjects with unflinching realism. As a pivotal figure bridging Realism and Impressionism, Ma...

About the Artist

Edouard Manet · 1832–1883

Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was a French painter who played a pivotal role in the transition from Realism to Impressionism, often called the 'Father of Modern Art.' Born into a wealthy Parisian family, Manet defied his father's wishes for a legal career to pursue painting, studying under academic artist Thomas Couture. His revolutionary works 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' and 'Olympia' (both 1863) scand...