Autoportrait avec Yvonne et Christine Lerolle
The photograph was taken at the home of the painter Henri Lerolle, a great friend of Degas. Degas himself can be seen in it, in the company of Lerolle's two daughters, Christine and Yvonne, later Mme Louis Rouart and Mme Eugène Rouart.
Although this image is not mentioned in the sources of the time, there is no doubt about its attribution to Degas. The pedigree of the work is absolutely certain: this print remained in the hands of Lerolle's descendants until it was acquired by the Musée d'Orsay in 1998. In particular, the type of printing, the composition and lighting, all correspond perfectly with documented photographs by Degas. Indeed it was known that Degas liked to direct his photographs, bullying his models into holding complicated poses, without any intention of simulating spontaneity. Here, the overall composition is harmonious and yet strange. On the left, Yvonne is leaning on a pedestal supporting a bronze version of Rodin's Ugolino.
As always in Degas' most successful photographs, the scene is bathed in half-light. The outline of the artist can be made out as a shadow in the foreground, with only his face lit in profile. The dresses of the girls seem to shine in the semi-darkness. As the master intended, the light sources remain invisible: no doubt a combination of several lamps. Finally the image must date from the end of 1895, the year when Degas took almost all his photographs, and which corresponds to the age of the models.
- collection Henry Lerolle
- collection Christine Rouart, fille de Henry Lerolle
- jusqu'en 1998, dans la collection Isabelle Hamel, fille de Christine Rouart
- 1998, acquis de Mme Hamel par les Musées nationaux, avec l'aide de la Commission nationale de la photographie (comité du 01/10/1998)
- 1998, attribué au musée d'Orsay, Paris
- Degas : portraits - Kunsthaus Zürich - Suisse, Zurich, 1994-1995
- Degas - Porträts - Kunsthalle - Allemagne, Tubingue, 1995
- Edgar Degas, photographe - Metropolitan Museum of Art - Etats-Unis, New York, 1998-1999
- Edgar Degas, photographe - J. Paul Getty Museum - Etats-Unis, Los Angeles, 1999
- Edgar Degas, photographe - Bibliothèque nationale de France - France, Paris, 1999
- De tijd van Degas - Gemeentemuseum - Pays-Bas, La Haye, 2002
- Chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection photographique du musée d'Orsay - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2002-2003
- Degas classique et moderne - Complesso del Vittoriano - Italie, Rome, 2004-2005
- Figures et portraits - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2006
- Fotografos insospechados. Celebridades detras del objectivo - Fundación Canal - Espagne, Madrid, 2007, (tirage moderne)
- Fotografos Insospechados. Celebridades detras del objetivo - Sala San Benito - Espagne, Valladolid, 2007-2008, (tirage moderne)
- Fotografos insospechados. 20 famosos detras de la cámara - Corporación Cultural de Las Condes - Chili, Santiago, 2008, (tirage moderne)
- Fotografos Insospechados. Celebridades detras del objetivo - Auditorio de Galicia - Espagne, Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, 2008, (tirage moderne)
- Debussy, la musique et les arts - musée de l'Orangerie - France, Paris, 2012
- Debussy, la musique et les arts - Bridgestone Museum of Art - Ishibashi Foundation - Japon, Tokyo, 2012
- Degas: A new Vision - Museum of Fine Arts - Etats-Unis, Houston, 2016-2017
- Degas Danse Dessin. Hommage à Degas avec Paul Valéry - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2017-2018
- Degas en noir et blanc - Bibliothèque nationale de France - France, Paris, 2023
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Daniel, Malcolm R. ; Parry, Eugenia ; Reff, Theodore, Edgar Degas, Photographer, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998, cat.32a, pl.33
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Aubenas, Sylvie ; Daniel, Malcolm ; Parry, Eugenia, Edgar Degas Photographe, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1999, cat.32a, pl.33
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Heilbrun, Françoise, La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France, "Acquisitions", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1999, n°4, 1999, p.97
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Heilbrun, Françoise, 48/14 La revue du Musée d'Orsay, "Nouvelles acquisitions", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000, p. 30-31
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Heilbrun, Françoise ; Bajac, Quentin, Orsay, la photographie, Paris, Scala (éditions), 2000, ill. 90, p. 76
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Dumas, Ann ; Collins, John, Renoir's Women, [Exhibition, Columbus, Museum of art, 23 September 2005-8 January 2006], Londres, Merrell, 2005, p. 92, figure 68
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Heilbrun, Françoise ; Néagu, Philippe, Portraits d'artistes, cat.exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, 9 décembre 1986-1er mars 1987), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, fig.12, reprod. p. 19
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Daniel, Malcolm R. ; Parry, Eugenia ; Reff, Theodore ; Aubenas, Sylvie, Edgar Degas photographe, cat. exp. (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, du 09/10/1998 au 03/01/1999 ; Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, du 02/02/1999 au 28/03/1999 ; Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, du 27/05/1999 au 23/08/1999), Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1999, n° 32a
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Sillevis, John ; Darley, Esther ; Heilbrun, Françoise, De Tijd van Degas, cat.exp. (La Haye, Gemeentemuseum, 2004), La Haye, Gemeentemuseum, 2002, p. 26
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Benedetti, Maria Teresa ; Dumas, Ann ; Minervino, Fiorella, Degas. Classico e moderno, cat. ex. (Roma, Complesso del Vittoriano, 1/10/2004 au 1/02/2005], Milan, Skira, 2004, cat.2, p.399
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Heilbrun, Françoise ; Bolloch, Joëlle, Figures et portraits, cat.exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, 7 mars-4 juin 2005), Milan, Musée d'Orsay ; 5 Continents Editions, 2006, n° 56
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Bona, Dominique ; Valéry, Paul ; Fargue, Léon-Paul ; Vitoux, Frédéric, Les Rouart. De l'impressionnisme au réalisme magique, cat. exp. (Nancy, musée des Beaux-Arts, du 07/11/2014 au 23/02/2015 ; Yerres, Propriété Caillebotte, du 28/03/2015 au 05/07/2015 ; Rueil-Malmaison, atelier Grognard, du 18/09/2015 au 11/01/2016), Paris, Gallimard, 2014, p. 147
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Loyrette, Henri [sous la direction de], Degas. A new vision, cat. exp., National Gallery Victoria - Museum of Fine Arts Houston , 2016, p. 207
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Triebel, Flora, Degas en noir et blanc : dessins, estampes, photographies, cat. exp. (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, du 31 mai au 3 septembre 2023), 1895 : année de passion photographique, p. 120-149, Paris, Bibliothèque natioonale de France, 2023, cat. 112, p. 142 ; analogie (ill. 17, p. 143)
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Terrasse, Antoine, Degas et la photographie, Paris, Denoël, 1983, n° 57
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Baumann, Felix ; Karabelnik, Marianne ; Sutherland Boggs, Jean, Degas' portraits, [Exhibition held at the Kunsthaus, Zurich, 2 December 1994-5 March 1995, and at the Kunsthalle, Tübingen, 18 March-18 June 1995], Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich, 1994, p. 312
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