Edouard Manet's Ragpicker From the Norton Simon Foundation September 6, 2009

The Norton Simon's 'Ragpicker' is from a series of monumental figural compositions that Manet painted in the 1860s, inspired by the old masters, particularly 17th-century Spanish painter Diego Velazquez. Manet's debt to Velazquez is evident in the composition of 'Ragpicker,' with nearly life-sized figures placed against an ambiguous backdrop that give this work an austere, theatrical appearance.