Maximilians
ORG
Maximilians
Manet's Maximilians Critics who believe that the Museum of Modern Art does not pay enough attention to what is up to the minute or cutting edge will have yet another reason to carp this fall. John Elderfield, the Modern's chief curator of painting and sculpture, is organizing an exhibition centered on Manet's series of paintings called 'The Execution of Maximilian'.  But he was dependent on the occupying French Army, and when Napoleon withdrew his troops, Maximilian was captured by Mexican forces loyal to their government. Manet's Maximilians Critics who believe that the Museum of Modern Art does not pay enough attention to what is up to the minute or cutting edge will have yet another reason to carp this fall. John Elderfield, the Modern's chief curator of painting and sculpture, is organizing an exhibition centered on Manet's series of paintings called ''The Execution of Maximilian.'' It will unite all four paintings in the series for the first time in the United States. Three years earlier, in 1864, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian was made emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III, because of French interests in the country. But he was dependent on the occupying French Army, and when Napoleon withdrew his troops, Maximilian was captured by Mexican forces loyal to their government.