Adrien-Emmanuel Marie artwork • painting • for sale Giuseppe Verdi conducts the opera orchestra at the first performance of Aïda in Paris, 1880

Adrien-Emmanuel Marie was born in 1848 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became famous as a painter and illustrator. From the 1980s, he was a regular contributor to the weekly magazines 'Le Monde Illustré' and 'La Chronique Illustrée', which provided the Parisian 'beau monde' with information. On March 22, 1880, Verdi conducted a performance of his opera Aida for the first time at the Opéra Garnier. Quite an event, because until then the composer had refused to perform in this building. It was a great success and the newspapers were full of it. Adrien Marie made sketches of the costumes and of Verdi in the orchestra pit, surrounded by the musicians. They served as examples for this painting, as well as for the cover illustration of Le Monde Illustré of April 3, 1880.