Bundle of Asparagus

In the final phase of his career, already partly paralysed, Manet painted a number of small still-lifes, such as the Bundle of Asparagus, which became well known in Germany because Liebermann, a great admirer of Manet, once owned it. He also painted endless variations on the theme of flowers in vases. It is moving to look at these enchanting impressions of the loveliness of the natural world, given what we know of the advanced state of Manet’s illness when he painted them.