The Kearsarge at Boulogne by Manet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: The "Kearsarge" at Boulogne

Artist: Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris)

Date: 1864

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 32 1/8 x 39 3/8 in. (81.6 x 100 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, and Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, by exchange, Gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rodgers and Joanne Toor Cummings, by exchange, and Drue Heinz Trust, The Dillon Fund, The Vincent Astor Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis, The Charles Engelhard Foundation, and Florence and Herbert Irving Gifts, 1999

Accession Number: 1999.442

Manet went to see the USS Kearsarge anchored off the coast of France, near Boulogne, soon after reading news headlines about its victory over a Confederate naval vessel in the Battle of Cherbourg. The battle between the American ships received a lot of attention in the French press. Manet painted two canvases related to the event, one that imagines the conflict itself, shown nearby, and this one, which depicts the surviving ship. At the age of sixteen, Manet traveled to Brazil on a training ship in hopes of qualifying for the French naval academy. The trip had a great impact on the artist, even if it ultimately did not help his marine aspirations.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438144