Bullfight 2
1865
Manet was absolutely obsessed with Spanish culture after his 1865 trip, and this energetic sketch captures the raw chaos of a bullfight perfectly. You can see a picador on horseback bravely facing down a charging bull, lance ready, while the crowd in the background is just a blur of excited faces. It feels like he was sketching furiously right there in the arena, trying to catch the movement before it vanished. This loose, spontaneous style was a huge departure from polished studio paintings and helped pave the way for the Impressionist movement.
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