Édouard Manet (1832-1883) Polichinelle. 1874. Lithograph. Sight: 325 x 490. Guérin 79; Fisher 61. color print. Fine proof on white vellum, from the definitive state, with Lemercier's address and Th. de Banville's verses at the foot, pasted on cardboard, the edges of the folio foxed. Moisture rings at foot, but no damage to verses. Small black dot and trace of red ink between the bunny's legs. Full margins. Framed. "The only color print by Manet. The model was one of his friends, the painter Edmond André, who also appears in this costume in the painting entitled Bal masqué à l'Opéra (Washington, National Gallery of Art), which was rejected by the Salon jury. Manet had launched a competition among poets to write two verses to be inscribed beneath the image of his Polichinelle. He chose the alexandrines of Théodore de Banville (1823-1891), who was considered one of the most eminent poets of his time. In 1876, 8,000 copies of the lithograph were withdrawn, to be offered as a bonus to subscribers to the newspaper Le Temps. The censors thought they recognized a caricature of General Mac-Mahon, and forbade its distribution." (Source: INHA). Of the 8,000 proofs, 1,500 were actually destroyed, according to Rançon, Lemercier's nephew and driver at the print run. Along with Le Gamin and Guerre civile, Le Polichinelle is one of only three lithographs published during the artist's lifetime.