THE National Museum Wales is to restore Édouard Manet’s (1832-1883) Portrait de Monsieur Jules Dejouy, 1879 thanks to funding from The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF). The museum is to receive €20,000 as part of TEFAF’s museum restoration fund, an annual grant created in support of the international art community’s vital work to preserve artistic and cultural heritage. The Manet was acquired in 2019 after more than ninety years in a private family collection. Jules Dejouy (1815-1894) was Manet’s older cousin and an important figure in the artists life. He was a successful lawyer, appointed to the Imperial Court in France in 1849. After the death of the artist’s father in 1862, Dejouy was appointed as chief counsellor and guide to Manet and his brothers. Manet relied on him in key ways throughout his life. During the siege of Paris in 1870 the artist sent valuables to his cousin for safekeeping. Dejouy was also appointed by Manet as his executor. He was part of the committee that organised an 1884 exhibition following Manet’s death, alongside Emile Zola, painters such as Fantin-Latour and dealers like Durand-Ruel and Georges Petit. This portrait was included in that exhibition.
