René de Gas

1855

Edgar Degas

Painter, French, 1834 - 1917

Edgar Degas

Attributed to

Shown from the chest up, a young, pale-skinned boy dressed in black turns to face us in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our left, but he turns his head back to gaze at us from the corners of his large, hazel-brown eyes under thin arched brows. He has an upturned nose set in a round face, and his coral-red mouth is slightly open. His short dark brown hair is parted on the side and falls just below his ears. He wears a tall, oyster-white collar under a loose-fitting, black jacket tied with a black bow at the neck. The background is brownish-olive green.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 38.6 x 32.1 cm (15 3/16 x 12 5/8 in.)
    framed: 55.9 x 49.2 x 6 cm (22 x 19 3/8 x 2 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.47.8

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

René de Gas [1845-1927], Paris; Roland Nepveu-de Gas [1885-1962], Paris, probably by 1931.[1] (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 24 November 1964, no. 38); (Alain Lemée); acquired 1964 by (Wildenstein & Co., New York);[2] sold December 1968 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1995 to NGA.
[1] Lent to an exhibition held in Paris in 1931 by M. et Mme. N.D.
[2] Alain Lemée was the commissaire priseur at the 24 November 1964 sale; according to a letter from Wildenstein's dated 14 December 1998, in NGA curatorial files, Wildenstein acquired the picture from Lemée.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Degas: Portraitiste, Sculpteur, Musée de L'Orangerie, Paris, 1931, no. 4.

1999

  • Degas and New Orleans: A French Impressionist in America, New Orleans Museum of Art; Ordrupgaardsamlingen, Copenhagen, 1999, no. 2, repro. (no. 1 in Danish version of catalogue, titled Degas et la Nouvelle-Orléans).

2006

  • Degas: o universo de um artista [Degas: The Universe of an Artist], Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, 2006, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1970

  • Minervino 1970, no. 114

1984

  • Lemoisne 1946 [revised edition, 1984], no. 7

Wikidata ID

Q20188323

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