Edgar Degas
1834-1917
Portrait of a Man
9 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches (246 x 184 mm)
Essence (oil paint thinned with turpentine) and gouache on brown paper.
1985.42
Bequest of John S. Thacher.
Notes
In 1872 Degas traveled with his brother to New Orleans, where their uncle had a trading firm. There he painted A Cotton Office, completed the following year and shown at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876 (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Pau; smaller version at Harvard University Art Museums). Depicting fourteen figures in various modes of thought and work, the painting is a masterpiece of group portraiture. This profile study, once identified as a portrait of the artist's brother René, actually depicts John Livaudais, a partner in the cotton exporting firm of Musson, Prestidge, & Co. In the painting, he is at right with his head tilted down, examining a ledger. --Exhibition Label, from “Degas: Drawings and Sketchbooks”
Inscriptions/Markings
Stamped in red ink at lower left corner, "Degas"; inscribed on verso, in blue pencil at lower left, "664"; also on verso, stamped in red ink at lower left corner, "ATELIER ER DEGAS".
Associated names
Thacher, John S., former owner.
Bibliography
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twenty-First Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984-1986. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1989, p. 333.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department