Portrait of Edgar Degas
Marcellin Desboutin French
Sitter Edgar Degas French
Not on view
For his numerous informal portraits, such as this small profile of Edgar Degas, Desboutin preferred the directness of drypoint—a technique in which the artist directly scratches the image with a sharp needle, effectively drawing on the copper plate. With minimal lines, Desboutin skillfully created an intimate image of his friend, one of several known portraits of Degas by Desboutin. The two had a long-lasting and productive friendship, with Desboutin even encouraging Degas to try printmaking again in the mid-1870s, after more than a ten-year hiatus. In turn, Degas depicted Desboutin beside the actress Ellen Andrée in his now famous painting "In a Café (L’Absinthe)" of 1875–76 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris).
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