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[Louise Halévy Reading to Degas]

Creator

French Photographer · 1834–1917

Artist

> No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament . . . I know nothing. > > --Edgar Germaine Hilaire Degas From a wealthy Parisian family, Degas devoted himself exclusively to painting without needing to sell a canvas. His training was conventional: he spent five years in Italy, studied the O

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Date: about 1895
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Culture: French
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

"Daylight is too easy. What I want is difficult--the atmosphere of lamps or moonlight," wrote Edgar Degas of making photographs. This self-portrait with Louise Halévy features a reading lamp prominently in the center of the composition. Halévy and Degas are rendered sketchily--a hand here, an ear there--yet the lamp is portrayed in detail. Degas did render the atmosphere of lamplight, but not the illumination from it. The shade remains dark, and Halévy casts a long shadow over the paper she is meant to be reading, indicating a source of light from behind her. However, the low light level creates an atmosphere of tranquil contemplation and sets the mood for this private scene.

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