Le Fleuve

Le Fleuve is a complex and important collaborative print project created in 1874 by Édouard Manet, featuring the poetry of Charles Cros. This ambitious literary and visual piece takes the form of an unbound poem consisting of five folded sheets. The materials vary distinctly, with the cover executed on ivory wove paper, while the internal pages hosting the text and illustrations utilize ivory laid paper. The illustrations themselves are masterfully crafted using a combination of demanding printmaking techniques, specifically etching, drypoint, and aquatint, skillfully printed by Auguste Delâtre and Cochet.

Published jointly by Librairie de l'eau-forte and Richard Lesclide, this work reflects the vibrant publishing culture in France during the mid-19th century. Although known primarily for his revolutionary oil paintings, Manet was an active printmaker throughout his career, engaging directly with modern literary figures and experimenting with graphic media textures. This piece is significant because it encapsulates a key period in French cultural production when Realist and early Impressionist artists were seeking new venues for distribution outside the official Salon system.

As a tangible object of literary and visual modernism, the work showcases how artists like Manet utilized the flexibility of prints to disseminate avant-garde ideas and artistic collaborations. Such efforts ensured that a wide audience had access to these experimental projects, many of which now reside in the public domain and serve as crucial records of 19th-century artistic innovation. This print, a defining example of modern French printmaking, is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.