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23 July 2010 | Photographs & Prints | Article

Degas, by Degas

Did you know that Edgar Degas, the celebrated French Impressionist artist was also a skilled photographer?

In 1895, family friends encouraged Degas to acquire his first camera, and he immediately began re-examining elements of composition, color and form through this new medium. Today fewer than 50 photographs by Degas survive, making Self-Portrait with Paul Poujaud and Marie Fontaine (circa 1895) a rare surviving relic from this multi-talented artist. Degas posed here with his friends, Marie Fontaine and the connoisseur Paul Poujaud, in the home of composer Ernest Chausson. Like many of Degas’ photographs, the composition of this image can be traced to wellknown works he created in other media. The casual, ambiguous poses recall those of an 1870 painting entitled Sulking in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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Degas, Edgar (1834-1917)

Keywords
Photographs
Degas, Edgar (1834-1917)
late 19th Century
France
portrait