The Last Flowers of Manet

In the winter of 1880, painter Edouard Manet, then 49, was dying. In the last months of life, he funneled his waning energy into a series of remarkable still lifes -- 16 small paintings of flowers, brought together in this book for the first time. Andrew Forge's moving essay pays tribute to the artist's struggle and to his legacy; Robert Gordon's selections from Manet's intimate letters and other documents add poignancy to the readers's experience of the dazzling last glow of a brilliant artistic flame.