Alfred Niaudet (Primary Title)
Edgar Degas, French, 1834 - 1917 (Artist)
Degas had been friends with Alfred Niaudet for more than twenty years when he made this portrait. A successful electrical engineer, Niaudet authored numerous articles for French scientific periodicals as well as several books. The sitter's informal pose is characteristic of Degas's interest in representing the unselfconscious positions people assumed during routine moments of daily life. He depicts Niaudet lost in thought, apparently unaware of being studiously observed throughout the realization of his portrait. The artist's purposeful delineation of his subject's suit and pocket watch serve as shorthand indications of an affluent intellectual, while the pile of papers on the desk alludes to Niaudet's engagement in research and contributions to his field of modern science. These compositional elements are lent emphasis by Degas's choice to renounce detailed representation for a simplified style characterized by stark forms rendered in homogenous regions of muted color. The resultant blurring of the image with its subdued tonal contrasts and straightforward cropping resembles the conventions and effects common to photographic images, and Degas probably relied on his familiarity with the medium's unique intricacies for these aspects of his composition.
Signed upper right: "Degas"
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
2019-2020: "Van Gogh Monet Degas, The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", Palazzo Zabarella, Padua, Italy, October 26, 2019 - March 1, 2020
2019-2021: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, February 2 - May 5, 2019; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, April 4, 2020 - January 10, 2021
2018-2019: "Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17 - July 15, 2018; Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 22 - September 22, 2019
Scenes from Impressionist Life, Musée des Beaux-arts de Rouen, April 16 - September 26, 2016
Exchange loan with the Rijksmuseum Vincent Van Gogh, Amsterdam, June 1989-Oct. 1991
Degas, VMFA, May 23-July 9, 1978
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, June-Oct. 1960, No. 17
Rome, 1955 (?)
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1955, No. 75
Musee de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1931, No. 68
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1924
2019-2021: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, February 2 - May 5, 2019; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, April 4, 2020 - January 10, 2021
2018-2019: "Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17 - July 15, 2018; Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 22 - September 22, 2019
Scenes from Impressionist Life, Musée des Beaux-arts de Rouen, April 16 - September 26, 2016
Exchange loan with the Rijksmuseum Vincent Van Gogh, Amsterdam, June 1989-Oct. 1991
Degas, VMFA, May 23-July 9, 1978
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, June-Oct. 1960, No. 17
Rome, 1955 (?)
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1955, No. 75
Musee de l’Orangerie, Paris, 1931, No. 68
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1924
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
