DEGAS, Edgar
(b. 1834, Paris, d. 1917, Paris)

Self-Portrait

c. 1855
Oil on paper, 81 x 65 cm
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Degas, as a young man, was very ambitious in some of his early works, tackling both portraiture and even historical painting. His self-portrait shows the 21-year-old painter as a reserved and even aloof observer. An overall sense of restraint permeates the painting.