id: 135238 accession number: 1958.25 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.25 updated: 2024-03-26 01:58:44.440000 Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting, c. 1878–80. Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917). Oil on wood panel; framed: 42.5 x 50 x 6 cm (16 3/4 x 19 11/16 x 2 3/8 in.); unframed: 27 x 34 cm (10 5/8 x 13 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. 1958.25 title: Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1878–80 creation date earliest: 1873 creation date latest: 1885 current location: 222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism creditline: Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on wood panel department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) - artist Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence and attended life classes at the Villa Medici in Rome. A visit to Normandy in 1861 may have introduced him to the racetrack. In Paris he continued to study at the Louvre, where he met Manet (q.v.) in 1862. Apart from his continuous interest in portraiture and history painting, Degas began to pay attention to subjects of modern life. Between 1865 and 1870, he exhibited at the Salon. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, he enlisted in the artillery, but because of his poor eyesight he served (with Manet) in the infantry. After the war he traveled first to London and, in 1872-73, visited his uncle and brothers who had a cotton business in New Orleans. Degas participated in the first impressionist exhibition of 1874. He continued to exhibit with these artists until 1886 but never completely considered himself a member of the group, preferring to call himself a realist or naturalist. While many of the impressionists painted en plein air, Degas worked with models in his studio and, later in his career, from his imagination. In addition to painting, he experimented often with monotypes, engraving, pastels, sculpture, and photography. He traveled extensively-London, Naples, Spain, Morocco, and Switzerland-but continued to draw his subject matter from modern-day Paris. Other recurring themes would be the female nude and the ballet dancer. After the impressionist exhibition of 1886, Degas no longer participated in group shows. Instead he sold his works to private dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. In the 1890s he began his own art collection, which, besides many works on paper, included paintings by such artists as Ingres, Cézanne (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), and van Gogh (q.v.). His own art at the time became characterized by broader strokes of paint, charcoal, and pastel and the use of more vibrant colors, partly because of problems with his vision. His failing eyesight and poor health caused him to abandon his pursuit of art during the last years of his life. --- measurements: Framed: 42.5 x 50 x 6 cm (16 3/4 x 19 11/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 27 x 34 cm (10 5/8 x 13 3/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed in upper left: Degas / a [sic] ses chers amis translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Private Degas opening date: 1987-01-20T05:00:00 The Private Degas. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 20-February 28, 1987); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge CB2 1RB (March 17-May 3, 1987). title: Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections opening date: 1999-10-10T00:00:00 Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 28-July 30, 2000). title: Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris opening date: 2003-09-14T00:00:00 Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris. Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara (Galleria d'Arte Moderna et Contemporanea) (September 14-November 16, 2003); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland (December 12, 2003-February 29, 2004). title: Degas and Rodin - Giants of Modernism opening date: 2016-10-25T04:00:00 Degas and Rodin - Giants of Modernism. Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Germany (organizer) (October 25, 2016-February 26, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Exposition Degas. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France (1924).', 'opening_date': '1924-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': "Degas-Portraitiste Sculpteur. Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (1931).", 'opening_date': '1931-01-01T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Alphonse Cherfils, Pau, France, by descent to his son, Christian Cherfils date: footnotes: citations: Christian Cherfils, Pau, France date: footnotes: citations: Marcel Guérin [1873-1948], Paris, France date: footnotes: citations: (Wildenstein & Co., New York, NY, January 10, 1950, sold to Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.) date: 1950 footnotes: citations: Leonard C. Hannah [1889-1957], Cleveland, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1950-1958 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1958- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lafond, Paul. Degas. Paris, FR: H. Floury, 1918. page number: Reproduced: opp. title cover, vol. 2 url: Lemoisne, Paul-André. Degas et son œuvre. Paris. FR: P. Brame et C.M. de Hauke, aux Arts et métiers graphiques, 1947. page number: Reproduced: no. 647; vol 2 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Reproduced: no. 11 url: Francis, Henry S. "Report for the Year 1958: Painting Department." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art XXXXVI, no. 6 (June, 1959): 111-122. page number: Mentioned: p. 22 url: Boggs, Jean Sutherland. Portraits by Degas. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1962. page number: Reproduced: p. 94, no. 2 url: Parry, Eugenia. Degas Monotypes; Essay, Catalogue & Checklist. Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn, 1968. page number: Reproduced: under no. 53 url: Russoli, Franco and Fiorella Minervino. L'opera completa di Degas. Milano: IT Rizzoli, 1970. page number: Reproduced: no. 580 url: Reff, Theodore. Degas: The Artist's Mind. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976. page number: Reproduced: p. 85-86 url: Nathanson, Carol and Edward Olszewski. "Degas's Angel of The Apocalypse." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art LXVII, no. 10 (October, 1980): 243-255. page number: Reproduced: p. 252, fig. 21; Mentioned: p. 251 url: Brettell, Richard R., and Suzanne Folds McCullagh. Degas in the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL: Art Institute of Chicago, 1984. page number: Reproduced: p. 84 url: Sutton, Denys. Edgar Degas, Life and Work. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1986. page number: Reproduced: p. 283 url: Kendall, Richard. Degas by Himself: Drawings, Prints, Paintings, Writings. London, UK: Macdonald Orbis, 1987. page number: Reproduced: p. 134 url: Thomson, Richard, and Edgar Degas. The Private Degas. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1987. page number: Referenced: cat. no. 59, p. 54, 140, Reproduced url: Sutton, Denys, and Jean Admémar. “Lettres Inédites De Degas Á Paul Lafond Et Autres Documents.” Gazette Des Beaux Arts 109, no. 129 (April 1987): 159–80. page number: Reproduced: p. 160 url: Brown, Marilyn R. “Degas and a Cotton Office in New Orleans.” Burlington Magazine 130 (March 1988): 216–21. page number: Reproduced: p. 219, fig. 38 url: Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. page number: Reproduced: p. 58 url: Brown, Marilyn. Degas and the Business of Art: A Cotton Office in New Orleans. University Park, PA: Published for College Art Association by the Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994. page number: Reproduced: p. 109, fig. 31 url: Ives, Colta Feller, Susan Alyson Stein, and Julie A. Steiner. The Private Collection of Edgar Degas: A Summary Catalogue. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. page number: Mentioned: p. 169; Reproduced: p. 170 url: Feigenbaum, Gail, and Jean Sutherland Boggs. Degas and New Orleans: A French Impressionist in America. New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Museum of Art, 1999. page number: Reproduced: p. 59, fig. 45 url: D' Argencourt, Louise, and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 1, p. 78 url: Dumas, Ann. Degas e gli italiani a Parigi: Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, 14 settembre-16 novembre 2003. Ferrara, IT: Ferrara arte, 2003. page number: Mentioned: p. 222-223; Reproduced: no. 13 url: Pingeot, Anne. "Rodin 1840-1917 und Degas (Bildhauer) 1834-1917: Umgang mit der Kunstkritik." In Degas - Rodin: Wettlauf der Giganten der Moderne. Gerhard Finckh, ed., 263-283. Wuppertal : Von der Heydt-Museum, 2016. page number: Reproduced: p. 269 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.25/1958.25_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.25/1958.25_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.25/1958.25_full.tif