Description
Joseph-Henri Altès shows the head and shoulders of a bearded man, seen in strict profile, turned to the left, against an empty warm brown ground. The man is bald across the front of the crown, his dark hair combed back over the ears, his beard long and dark, and beneath the dark coat a pale triangle of shirt collar appears. No room, no object, no instrument. The original is an oil painting on canvas and is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York under the accession number 29.100.181. We make it as a hand-painted work, in sizes from 30 x 35 to 100 x 110 cm or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Joseph-Henri Altès |
| Other titles: | Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895) |
| Painter: | Edgar Degas (1834–1917) |
| Year of execution: | 1868 |
| Original size: | 25.1 cm x 20 cm (with added strips 27 cm x 21.6 cm) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 29.100.181) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on linen canvas, 8 sizes from 30 x 35 cm to 100 x 110 cm, custom sizes on request |
Joseph-Henri Altès – Edgar Degas
Who is shown?
Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895), a flautist in the orchestra of the Paris Opéra. He is the only portrait in this scene and the only person: head and shoulders, seen in strict profile. The man is bald across the front of the crown, his dark hair combed back, his beard long and thick, his moustache dark. The ear catches the light and is the brightest place in the scene after the forehead. Beneath the dark coat a pale triangle of shirt collar appears. He does not look out at us and does not see us.
What is on the canvas?
Almost nothing but the face. The ground is empty and warm brown, with no wall, no furniture, no window — the face stands in front of it as in front of a curtain. The light comes from the left and falls on the forehead, the nose and the ear; everything else sinks into the dark. There are few colours: brown, ochre, skin, and one pale note of the collar. At the upper left the painter has signed in dark paint. The scene is upright and very small — the original is smaller than a sheet of paper.
Why does this particular scene matter?
Because it is the portrait of a musician with no instrument in it. Altès was a flautist, and nothing in this scene says so: no flute, no sheet of music, no stand, no concert hall. Who he is, we know from the name alone. Degas painted the orchestra of the Paris Opéra again and again, with its stands, its instruments and the heads of its players, but here he took one of them out of the orchestra and set him in front of an empty ground. The second thing is the canvas itself: the museum records that it was later enlarged with added strips, which is why the work has two sizes — the painted surface and the whole.
What does the scene mean?
Professional seriousness without professional signs. Impressionism for Degas never stopped at light out of doors; here it is entirely in the exactness with which a single profile is observed. An impressionist painting of this kind is really the study of an acquaintance rather than a commission, and that is exactly why the face is so direct. As wall art it works best where it is seen close to — in a study, beside a bookshelf, in a hallway you pass at arm’s length. A canvas painting with a dark ground needs a little space around it and nothing pale immediately beside it.
The motif among Degas’s works
The musicians of the Paris Opéra are a whole family of works in Degas. The Orchestra at the Opera shows the same orchestra in the pit below the stage, Orchestra Musicians puts the players’ heads in the foreground in front of the dancers, and Mademoiselle Dihau at the Piano is a portrait from the same musical circle. The house Altès played in is shown by Ballet at the Paris Opéra at the Art Institute of Chicago, and how far Degas could drive a work towards a single colour by Combing the Hair at the National Gallery in London.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil colours, not a printer, and here the technique of the original is the same as ours: oil on canvas. Every one of our canvases is made layer after layer, and in this motif the hardest part is precisely the thing there is least of: the passage between the lit side of the face and the dark in which the beard is lost. Drawn too hard, the profile turns into a cut-out silhouette. The other demanding part is the ear, which has to stay warm and translucent rather than red. We paint the ground before the face, because it has to lie beneath it and not behind it. Every reproduction is made afresh and no two copies are ever quite the same, because the hand does not repeat the same stroke twice; every hand-painted copy is therefore its own. For this work we have no photographs of our finished canvases, so we show and describe none here. The photograph of your canvas reaches you before dispatch.
Which size for which wall?
If you do not know which: 60 x 70 cm. The original measures 25.1 x 20 cm and is therefore very small; our 30 x 35 cm size comes nearest to it in size, while in proportion the nearest are 30 x 35 and 60 x 70 cm, because our sizes run a little wider than the original. The 30 x 35 and 43 x 47 cm sizes are for a narrow space or the wall beside a door, where the portrait is seen close to. The 50 x 55 and 60 x 70 cm sizes are the most frequent choice above a chest of drawers or beside a bookshelf. The 70 x 80 and 80 x 90 cm sizes are for a larger wall, where the head holds up to being looked at from a distance. The 90 x 100 cm size is for an entrance hall, and at 100 x 110 cm we are at the sizes where a large painting really breathes and the face is bigger than life. Measure your chosen size on the wall with a paper cut-out first; with an upright format the mistake is usually made in the height. None of the sizes is held in stock as a finished item: every copy is made to order and stays a single piece.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits you, or if you want the original’s proportion, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the scene, so that as little space is left between the crown of the head and the upper edge as in Degas; that is our painting made to order. Every copy is delivered stretched on a wooden bar, ready to hang. For the frame, use our 3D application: on this motif it shows every moulding profile we carry, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood – it is for choosing a frame and nothing else. If you want to see how the work looks on your own wall, that is our separate room-placement service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every copy is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose; for the largest sizes the time is usually at the upper end. We send it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, to sixteen countries in the European Union, without customs duties. You receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch, and our returns policy applies to every order. The whole range is in the Edgar Degas gallery, and the painter’s life is described in our article about Edgar Degas.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the sitter?
Joseph-Henri Altès, a French flautist who played in the orchestra of the Paris Opéra. He lived from 1826 to 1895.
Why is there no flute in the scene?
Because Degas painted the man and not the profession. There is not a single object in the scene — we know who he is from the name, not from an attribute.
Why are two sizes given for the original?
Because the canvas was later enlarged with added strips. The painted surface measures 25.1 x 20 cm and the whole with the strips 27 x 21.6 cm; the museum records both.
What is in the background?
Nothing. The ground is empty and warm brown, without a room and without objects.
Where is the original located?
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, under the accession number 29.100.181.
How large is the original?
The painted surface is 25.1 by 20 cm, so smaller than a sheet of paper. Our 30 x 35 cm size comes nearest to it.
Are your sizes in the same proportion as the original?
Not quite – ours run a little wider. In proportion the nearest are 30 x 35 and 60 x 70 cm; if you want the original’s proportion, we paint it to your measurements.
Is this a print?
No. The work is painted by hand in oil colours; the brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Which size should I choose?
Above a chest of drawers usually 60 x 70 cm, for a narrow wall 43 x 47 cm. The size guide is above.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes, we paint to measure and keep the proportions of the scene while doing it.
Is it suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for a musician or for someone who likes quiet, dark portraits. Because every copy is made to order, allow for the making time; if you would rather leave the choice to them, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: the head and shoulders of a bearded man in strict profile, against an empty warm brown ground, with no room and no objects
- Original: Edgar Degas, an oil painting on canvas, painted surface 25.1 x 20 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (29.100.181)
- Ours: hand-painted in oil, eight sizes from 30 x 35 to 100 x 110 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: the sitter was a flautist of the Paris Opéra, and there is neither flute nor sheet of music in the scene – the profession is given by the name alone
