Lot Essay
The present lot brings together two souvenirs of Degas's involvement with the ballet at the Opéra. The photograph is the calling card of ballet master Jules Perrot, who featured in a number of Degas's dance class paintings, and whose portrait the artist drew and painted around 1880 (see the preceding lot). Degas probably derived the pose of the maître de danse in the painting La classe de danse, circa 1877 (Lemoisne, vol. II, no. 430; coll. Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum) from this photograph.
The letter is addressed to Albert Boulanger-Cavé (1832-1910), the son of painter Clément Boulanger.
Sunday Morning
Mr. Cavé, I am all yours on Wednesday. Long live
the sleight of hand which will make us better people!
Regards
Degas
Well connected with many people in the arts, Boulanger-Cavé joined the Ministry of the Interior in 1852 and eventually became Director of Censorship, a position he handled with taste and discretion. He was friendly with Ludovic Halévy, who wrote libretti for Jacques Offenbach and Georges Bizet. Degas portrayed both men engaged in conversation backstage in Portraits d'amis sur la scène, 1879 (Lemoisne, vol. II, no. 526; coll. Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
A photograph and a letter in one mount (2)
The letter is addressed to Albert Boulanger-Cavé (1832-1910), the son of painter Clément Boulanger.
Sunday Morning
Mr. Cavé, I am all yours on Wednesday. Long live
the sleight of hand which will make us better people!
Regards
Degas
Well connected with many people in the arts, Boulanger-Cavé joined the Ministry of the Interior in 1852 and eventually became Director of Censorship, a position he handled with taste and discretion. He was friendly with Ludovic Halévy, who wrote libretti for Jacques Offenbach and Georges Bizet. Degas portrayed both men engaged in conversation backstage in Portraits d'amis sur la scène, 1879 (Lemoisne, vol. II, no. 526; coll. Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
A photograph and a letter in one mount (2)