Flowers in a Crystal Vase

Manet found inspiration in the most ordinary of subjects to which he gave a carnal presence. Some of these small intimate paintings were intended for a friend or a loved woman. The final bouquets, garden flowers freshly cut and set in a crystal vase, testify to his immense thirst for life. Manet attached great importance to still life, which he considered to be the "touchstone of the painter". Tired of history painting, and of the "pretentious productions" that weighed down contemporary artistic production, he confessed: "A painter can say all he wants to with fruits or flowers, or even clouds. You know, I would like to be the Saint Francis of still life."