In 1872, Edgar Degas left Paris and boarded a boat headed for America, off to visit various family members in New Orleans. Degas’ mother, Celestine, had originally come from a respected Creole clan by the name of Musson. Her Haitian-born father had grown rich through dealings in cotton and silver, and he eventually brought Celestine to France for a more formal education. There she met Auguste De Gas (also known as Degas) and married him soon after. Their first son Edgar was born in 1834.
Creole Connections
Although Degas’ mother died when he was only thirteen, the connection to her Creole heritage would remain. Furthermore, in 1870, Degas’ younger brothers Rene and Achille decided to leave France and join forces with the Musson family’s enterprises in New Orleans. Rene convinced Edgar to visit them in 1872, and Degas would stay in New Orleans for approximately five months.
When Degas made his American visit, he had not yet truly begun to find his way as an artist. He was also not quite the acerbic and semi-reclusive soul he would eventually turn into, and instead came across as friendlier and more open to experience. Having just witnessed the devastation and tragedy of the Franco-Prussian War and served in the French National Guard himself, he was no doubt eager for a change of scene. New Orleans, conversely, was in its own post-Civil War period of transition, with much governmental “Yankee” overseeing and general confusion as the city tried to regroup and find a new identity.
Degas, however, found New Orleans to be fascinating and full of color and character. He appreciated the still-frequent use of French throughout the city, and also found New Orleans’ architecture and pace of living to be intriguing. He stayed on Esplanade Avenue with his family and soon began to artistically reproduce the sights and scenes around him. Degas was especially interested in his sister-in-law, Estelle, who was blind. Degas painted a beautiful portrait of Estelle arranging flowers, and he was surely drawn to her because his own eyesight was growing weaker with time — something that a visual artist would of course find absolutely devastating.
The Cotton Market
Another great Degas work done during his New Orleans trip is The Cotton Market, New Orleans (also titled A Cotton Office, New Orleans or Portraits in a Cotton Office) Showing a glimpse of the central cotton exchange office on Carondelet Street, Degas depicts a distinctly New Orleans-type way of doing business. While a scene of the time in a Chicago or New York place of commerce would most likely have come across as more chaotic, Degas’ painting has a definite languor. Men read newspapers, idle along the sidelines, and calmly go about their duties. Even examination of the main moneymaking entity — the cotton itself — seems relaxed and reflective.
Degas left New Orleans around Mardi Gras of 1873 and returned to Paris. His life would change dramatically soon after, following the death of his father and discovery of his brother Rene‘s financial distress. At that point, Degas was forced to become a self-supporting artist and could no longer rely on his family’s wealth. He would also begin his relationship with a group of painters who would ultimately be known as the French Impressionists, with Edgar Degas as one of their foremost members.
Degas' New Orleans Landmarks
The Edgar Degas House can be found at 2306 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, and Portrait of Mme. Rene De Gas is part of the New Orleans Museum of Art’s permanent collection. The old Cotton Exchange was given landmark status in 1977 and is now The Cotton Exchange Hotel.
- Sources
- Degas in New Orleans—Christopher Benfey (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998)
- An Impressionist Abroad— Time Magazine
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