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Lot Essay
Professor Theodore Reff has confirmed the authencity of this painting.
The present painting is a masterful example from a series of family portraits that Degas executed at the beginning of his career. The majority of these portraits may be dated to the months preceding and following Degas' departure for Italy in July of 1856. Numbering among the most important works of Degas' early career, these portraits and self-portraits such as Degas à la palette (Lemoisne, no. 2; fig. 1) led the artist's father to predict, "[Portraits] will be the most beautiful jewel in your crown" (quoted in J.S. Boggs, Portraits by Degas, Berkeley, 1962, p. 2).
As a young student of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Degas could not afford to hire models and therefore turned to members of his family. The close ties Degas had with his subjects would continue for the rest of his life. The present work, a portrait of his younger brother, René, is similar to the more well known three-quarter-length portrait René de Gas à l'encrier (Lemoisne, no. 6; fig. 2) also of 1855. Both works depict René as a serious and solemn young man who faces the viewer with a melancholic gaze. Both the pose as well as the modeling technique is reminiscent of the 17th century paintings that Degas studied in the Louvre. The romantic aura of the painting is heightened by the use of soft contre-jour lighting, which illuminates the left side of René's face while casting his right side in shadow. The somber tonal harmony of the portrait is achieved by applying thin, roughly applied tones and then adding more heavily applied lighter tones to sculpt the subject's head. The head thus materializes from the shadowy background radiating with a soft orange light, amplifying the intense inwardness of his visage.
(fig. 1) Edgar Degas, Degas à la palette, 1854. Private collection.
(fig. 2) Edgar Degas, René de Gas à l'encrier, 1855. Smith College of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts.
The present painting is a masterful example from a series of family portraits that Degas executed at the beginning of his career. The majority of these portraits may be dated to the months preceding and following Degas' departure for Italy in July of 1856. Numbering among the most important works of Degas' early career, these portraits and self-portraits such as Degas à la palette (Lemoisne, no. 2; fig. 1) led the artist's father to predict, "[Portraits] will be the most beautiful jewel in your crown" (quoted in J.S. Boggs, Portraits by Degas, Berkeley, 1962, p. 2).
As a young student of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Degas could not afford to hire models and therefore turned to members of his family. The close ties Degas had with his subjects would continue for the rest of his life. The present work, a portrait of his younger brother, René, is similar to the more well known three-quarter-length portrait René de Gas à l'encrier (Lemoisne, no. 6; fig. 2) also of 1855. Both works depict René as a serious and solemn young man who faces the viewer with a melancholic gaze. Both the pose as well as the modeling technique is reminiscent of the 17th century paintings that Degas studied in the Louvre. The romantic aura of the painting is heightened by the use of soft contre-jour lighting, which illuminates the left side of René's face while casting his right side in shadow. The somber tonal harmony of the portrait is achieved by applying thin, roughly applied tones and then adding more heavily applied lighter tones to sculpt the subject's head. The head thus materializes from the shadowy background radiating with a soft orange light, amplifying the intense inwardness of his visage.
(fig. 1) Edgar Degas, Degas à la palette, 1854. Private collection.
(fig. 2) Edgar Degas, René de Gas à l'encrier, 1855. Smith College of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts.