Significant partly-printed subscription form, signed "Claude Monet," one page, 5.25 x 8.25, February 4, 1890. Sent to fellow painter Henri-Charles Guerard, a form relating to Monet's campaign to buy Edouard Manet's 'Olympia' for the French National Museum. In full: "As the subscription for the purchase of the Olympia has closed and the offer must be made to the State, I am requesting that you kindly send me the sum of two hundred francs that you commissioned me to set down under your name." In fine condition.
Edouard Manet’s painting 'Olympia,' an arrestingly bold nude of a reclining prostitute, immediately sparked controversy upon its unveiling at the 1865 Paris Salon. Later recognized as one of the artist’s true masterpieces, Monet spearheaded a public campaign to raise money for the French government to purchase the painting. By February 1890, Monet had raised about 20,000 francs to purchase the great work and announced its donation to the French national museums. As the law prevented the Louvre from exhibiting works until their creators were ten years deceased (Manet died in 1883), 'Olympia' was first shown at the Musée du Luxembourg, then at the Musée de l'Art Contemporary of Paris. By order of Georges Clemenceau, Olympia finally took its place in the Louvre in 1907.
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