ÉDOUARD MANET L'Exécution de Maximilien. Lithograph on Chine appliqué, 1868. 333x433 mm; 13x17 inches, full margins. First state (of 3), before letters. A superb impression of this important lithograph. This lithograph represents the execution of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, an Austrian-born diplomat and younger brother of the French ally Austrian emperor Francis Joseph I, appointed by Napoleon III, following the overthrow of the Second Mexican Empire. Maximilian I had inserted himself in 1864 as head of a "puppet" regime in Mexico, though most foreign governments refused to recognize his rule. Following the spread of the news of Maximilian's execution on the continent, Manet (1832-1883) composed several versions of the event. In addition to the current lithograph, Manet created four oil paintings of the same subject, today in the collections of the National Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Kunsthalle, Mannheim and Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen. The composition and subject matter both recall Francisco José de Goya's 1814 oil painting The Third of May 1808, Museo del Prado, Madrid, while foreshadowing other important politically charged works, such as Pablo Picasso's 1937 Guernica, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid. Guérin 73; Harris 54.