The Tragic Actor (Rouvière in the role of Hamlet) (1865–66): Artwork and History

The Tragic Actor (Rouvière in the role of Hamlet) (1865–66) 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:

Édouard Manet’s etching depicts Philibert Rouvière in one of his most celebrated roles. The actor stands alone in theatrical lighting, with the diagonals of the rapier and shadows on the floor suggesting his violent state of mind. Rouvière is thought to have based his intense and physically exaggerated portrayal of Hamlet on Delacroix’s series of lithographs, two of which are on display nearby. Manet painted a nearly identical portrait of Rouvière as Hamlet in 1865, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He completed the painting and made this print after the actor’s death, possibly as a tribute.

Object facts

• Title: The Tragic Actor (Rouvière in the role of Hamlet)
• Date: 1865–66
• Artist attribution: Édouard Manet French, 1832-1883
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Etching and plate tone in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: Image: 29.9 × 16.1 cm (11 13/16 × 6 3/8 in.); Plate: 32.6 × 17.8 cm (12 7/8 × 7 1/16 in.); Sheet: 36.9 × 22.1 cm (14 9/16 × 8 3/4 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1962.807

Collection credit

John H. Wrenn 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.