Rochefort's Escape

The painting depicts the flight of the opposition politician and writer Henri de Rochefort, who was banished to a penal colony following the collapse of the Commune in 1871. Three years later, France learnt of his sensational escape from the island of New Caledonia. Manet made preparatory studies and finally two versions of the painting – one of which is in the Kunsthaus – based on newspaper reports and the accounts of those involved. By addressing the anecdotal pretext for the scene with painterly technique, Manet failed in his project to create a history picture for the Paris Salon of 1881; he did, however, create an artistic manifesto.