How Much Is Plum Brandy Worth?

Plum Brandy is a cornerstone of Manet’s late-1870s exploration of modern Parisian life. The introspective, single-figure café interior crystallizes the artist’s shift toward contemporary subjects and nuanced psychology while retaining his hallmark painterly directness. Its date, handling, and theme align it with the most discussed phase of Manet’s career—works that bridge Realism and the emergent Impressionist sensibility. The painting is frequently reproduced, widely taught, and paired in discourse with Degas’s café scenes, making it a touchstone for modern-life narratives. While it sits below Olympia or A Bar at the Folies-Bergère in global icon status, within the café/modern-life subset it is among the most recognizable exemplars, sustaining persistent scholarly and public interest.

Museum-level Manet oils from the prime 1870s are extraordinarily scarce in private hands. A large share of the artist’s most desirable subjects—especially modern-life figure interiors—are held by institutions, drastically limiting opportunities for acquisition. When a comparably important canvas appears, competition tends to be concentrated among a small set of global collectors and institutions, driving price discovery above typical benchmarks. The 2014 record for Le Printemps demonstrated the depth of demand for late, emblematic Manets. Given that Plum Brandy carries equivalent period gravitas and subject resonance, its scarcity value is acute. The absence of recent, like-for-like offerings accentuates the premium, particularly in a market environment that rewards singular, best-in-class material.

The subject—a contemplative young woman with a glass of plum brandy—embodies Manet’s incisive observation of urban modernity. It offers narrative intrigue, social context, and psychological depth that outperform still lifes and many small portraits in market appeal. The scale (approximately 29 × 19 3/4 inches) is intimate yet substantial, optimal for private display while retaining a commanding wall presence. Among Manet’s market strata, late still lifes can reach low eight figures, but modern-life figure interiors typically command meaningful premiums. Though not on the icon tier of Olympia, this painting stands near the apex of collector demand for narrative Manets, benefiting from cross-category appeal to Impressionist, Modern, and even contemporary-leaning buyers who prioritize subject-driven works.

The work’s provenance—from early private ownership through Paul Rosenberg and Paul Mellon to its current home at the National Gallery of Art—meets the highest standards of market acceptability. Extensive publication and exhibition history reinforce its scholarly stature and curatorial endorsement. Although formal condition details would be required in a sale context, long-term museum stewardship typically correlates with excellent conservation and stability. These elements reduce transaction risk and enhance bidder confidence, supporting record-adjacent pricing. Taken together, the fully documented ownership, institutional validation, and anticipated conservation profile are consistent with the price tier reserved for masterworks by Manet, particularly those with unmistakable placement within his modern-life corpus.