The Swallows, 1873 Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Edouard Manet also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Swallows is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Manet’s "The Swallows," painted in 1873, captures a moment of serene leisure in the French countryside, yet it feels undeniably alive, vibrating with subtle movement. Two women sit quietly in the foreground, their dresses - one dark and one light - offering a dramatic contrast. The white bonnet of one woman echoes the delicate, luminous tones of the sky, while the other figure’s black attire deepens the sense of weight and stillness in the composition. Their elegant forms lie at the heart of this pastoral scene, resting among the sprawling green field that stretches across the canvas.

The vastness of the landscape is punctuated by details that catch the eye. In the distance, windmills dot the horizon like quiet sentinels, and cattle graze lazily under a sky that seems to pulse with the motion of swallows darting about. Manet’s brushstrokes are loose yet purposeful, as if each blade of grass, each cloud, were created with a confident, momentary flick of the wrist. There’s a lightness to the atmosphere - the feeling of a breezy afternoon filled with warm air and quiet conversations. The sky, painted in soft blues and whites, mirrors the tranquility of the scene below, though it is never empty, constantly animated by the birds in flight.

The palette here is subdued, dominated by the green of the field, the neutral hues of the women’s clothing, and the gentle tones of the sky. Yet, it’s in the simplicity of the colors that Manet finds a kind of quiet power. His mastery lies in his ability to turn an otherwise mundane scene into something poetic, where light, shadow, and form all dance together in a delicate, fleeting harmony. Manet doesn’t overwhelm - instead, he invites you to sit, pause, and share the moment with these two figures, watching the swallows pass overhead.