Beggar with Oysters (Philosopher) (1865–67): Artwork and History

Beggar with Oysters (Philosopher) (1865–67) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Along with Beggar with a Duffle Coat, Beggar with Oysters formed part of a series of four paintings collectively called The Philosophers. The title refers to traditional representations of the ancient stoic philosophers, whose poverty was associated with wisdom. The anonymous men in these paintings would have been recognizable to Édouard Manet’s contemporary audience as urban types—social outcasts populating the streets of Paris. By depicting them at such a large scale and set against empty, dark backgrounds, Manet subverted expectations for paint-ing at the time, granting his figures a portrait-like, even heroic presence typically reserved for noble, historical, or religious subjects. Through his format and series title, the artist encouraged viewers to see these often-disregarded people as possessing rare insight.

Object facts

• Title: Beggar with Oysters (Philosopher)
• Date: 1865–67
• Artist attribution: Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883)
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 188 × 111 cm (74 × 43 5/16 in.); Framed: 223.3 × 145.5 × 17.5 cm (87 7/8 × 57 1/4 × 6 7/8 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1931.504

Collection credit

Arthur Jerome Eddy Memorial Collection

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.