Chicago Museum of Art: Manet's Henri Fantin-Latour

This piece was painted in 1867.  Manet had been often rejected by the official "Salon", a body supporting the arts in Paris.  So, he decided to host a private exhibition of 56 of his works at an independent pavilion near the Exposition Universelle in Paris.

 

 The subject of this commissioned painting, Henri Fantin-Latour, willingly submitted his portrait to the exhibition with the signature in the lower left, "To my friend Manet". 

The idea, may suspect, was to improve Manet's standing in the Parisian circles.