A Brush Stopped by Tragic News: Manet's The Bullfight

An early work from a period when Manet was deeply drawn to Spanish art, The Bullfight shows a bull already fallen, surrounded by a cluster of bullfighters.

The whole canvas is covered in rough, rapid brushwork, giving it the feel of a work-in-progress rather than a finished piece. According to one account, Manet actually abandoned the painting after hearing news that a real bullfighter had died.

True to its pre-Impressionist origins, the painting leans on strong contrast, dark tones, and dramatic atmosphere rather than bright light — a reinterpretation, in Manet's own voice, of the influence of Spanish painters Goya and Velázquez. Bullfighting was an exotic spectacle few French audiences would ever witness firsthand at the time, which is part of why this painting is seen as a transitional work, balancing realistic observation with a distinctly Romantic imagination.