Gauguin was an admirer of Édouard Manet's 1863 "Olympia". He had seen it exhibited at the 1889 "Exposition Universelle" and commented in a review, ""La Belle Olympia", who once caused such a scandal, is esconced there like the pretty woman she is, and draws not a few appreciative glances". After the French state purchased "Olympia" from Manet's widow, with funds from a public subscription organised by Claude Monet, Gauguin took the opportunity to make a three-quarter size copy when it was exhibited in the Musée du Luxembourg. The copy is not an especially faithful one and it is thought he completed it from a photograph. Edgar Degas later purchased it for 230 francs at Gauguin's 1895 auction of his paintings to raise funds for his return to Tahiti. It is known that Gauguin took a photograph of Manet's "Olympia" with him on his first visit to Tahiti. Claire Frèches-Thory remarks that "Olympia", the modern equivalent of Titian's "Venus of Urbino", is a constant presence in Gauguin's great nudes of the South Pacific: "Spirit of the Dead Watching", "Te arii vahine", and "Nevermore".