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Madame Camus, 1869-1870

 
 
 
 
 
Details     Description
   
Artist Degas, Edgar

Dr. Gustave Émile Camus (Dijon 1829 – Paris 1892), a physician and friend of Degas, collected Japanese objects in addition to Saxon porcelains. Degas makes a discreet and indirect allusion to his collections in the portraits of his wife, born Blanche Dumoustier de Frédilly. Goncourt describes her as a very beautiful woman who, "in her slenderness and aristocratic pallor, seems like a divinity from the world of her shelves." In this monochrome harmony, Madame Camus stands out like a shadow puppet, her fan accentuating the Far Eastern aspect of the scene. Probably depicted in her salon at 34 rue Godot-de-Mauroy, she is placed in a typically Second Empire setting, datable thanks to a torchère that could be attributed to Cordier. The rococo molding of the mirror emphasizes the very linear and sinuous style of this strange portrait. An excellent musician, she attended Manet's gatherings. Degas also painted her Portrait at the Piano (Zurich, Buhrle Collection).


This marvelous portrait was exhibited at the Salon of 1870. Found strange by some, Théodore Duret declared that this work broke new ground: "The lady who is the subject of this portrait is the realization of this type, utterly original, very lively, very feminine, very Parisian." She seems to be seen as if through her own gaze, for Jeanne Raunay describes her eyes as "half-open, letting a fiery glance filter through her half-closed eyelids." This work was thus probably presented at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876, under the title Portrait, Evening. This title recalls what Degas notes in his notebooks: "Work a lot on evening effects, lamps, candles, etc. The point is not always to show the source of light, but the effect of the night."

 

Inscription: ower right with atelier stamp: Degas 

Credit Line: Chester Dale Collection 

Accession Number: 1963.10.121 

 

Provenance:

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas [1834-1917], the artist; (Degas sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 6-8 May 1918, no. 96); purchased by (Paul Rosenberg et Cie, Paris); sold by 1931 through (Goupil & Cie, London) to Herbert C. Coleman, London and Manchester, England; (Paul Rosenberg et Cie., Paris);[1] sold March 1938 to Chester Dale, New York; gift 1963 to NGA. [1]According to a letter dated 13 April 1938 from Paul Rosenberg to Chester Dale, in NGA curatorial files, Rosenberg purchased the painting from the Degas sale, and sold it to Coleman, a Manchester cotton dealer, through the Goupil Gallery in London; when Coleman retired, he resold the painting to Rosenberg who sold it to Dale after a few years. 

 
Date 1869-1870 
 
Institution National Gallery of Art, Washington
   
Medium Oil on canvas
 
Dimensions 72.7 x 92.1 cm