Portrait of Edmond de Goncourt

The influential French critic Edmond de Goncourt was a friend of Bracquemond’s. When writing about an artwork, he liked to evoke physical sensations such as touch and smell, a practice Bracquemond suggests here with rich fabrics and a burning cigarette. Other details reflect Goncourt’s passions. The bird decoration on the wall represents his collection of fifteen hundred Japanese objects. The relief sculpture of a frolicking nymph and satyr (mythical woodland creatures) recalls French art of the previous century, which Goncourt cherished. The portfolio in the foreground bears the name of his beloved brother, Jules, an amateur printmaker who died at age thirty-nine.