Description
Portrait of Léon Bonnat shows a young bearded man to the chest, in three-quarter view, looking slightly down and past us. On his head is a pale top hat with a dark band, its brim casting a shadow on his forehead; his hair and beard are dark, and below his throat a white shirt collar appears. The ground is a warm brown-pink, and behind his head a pale upright panel can be made out. At the upper left the work is signed. The original is an oil painting on canvas and is held by the Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne under the inventory number 69. We make it as a hand-painted work, in sizes from 30 x 40 to 60 x 80 cm or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Portrait of Léon Bonnat |
| Other titles: | Léon Bonnat |
| Painter: | Edgar Degas (1834–1917) |
| Year of execution: | circa 1863 |
| Original size: | 43 cm x 36 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | Musée Bonnat-Helleu, Bayonne (inv. no. 69) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on linen canvas, 4 sizes from 30 x 40 cm to 60 x 80 cm, custom sizes on request |
Portrait of Léon Bonnat – Edgar Degas
Who is shown?
A single man, whom the title names: Léon Bonnat. He is seen to the chest, in three-quarter view towards our right, his head slightly tilted and his look directed downwards and past us. He is young — the skin is smooth, although the beard and moustache are thick and dark. He wears a pale top hat with a dark band; the brim casts a shadow over his forehead and eyes. Below his throat a white shirt collar appears, and beneath that dark clothing. There is nobody else.
What is on the canvas?
Almost nothing but warm colours. The ground is brown-pink and mottled, like a plastered wall, and behind the head a pale upright panel with a faint edge can be made out. The top hat is a greyish pale, the only genuinely light object above; the collar is the only cool white below. Everything else — hair, beard, clothing, the shadow under the brim — sits in dark browns. At the upper left stands the painter’s signature, which in his work is rare: Degas usually signed at the bottom.
Why does this particular scene matter?
Because the man is wearing a hat. In the portraiture of that time the hat came off; a portrait was an occasion you prepared for. Here Bonnat is painted as he arrived — covered, with the shadow of the brim across his eyes, and with a look that is not directed at the painter. The scene is therefore not a sitting but a meeting. The second thing is the signature at the upper left, where it usually is not; it is set into the empty area of the ground as though it belonged to the wall.
What does the scene mean?
Acquaintance rather than commission. Impressionism for Degas always meant exactness in looking at someone he knew, and here the man is plainly known: nobody lets himself be painted with his hat on and his eyes lowered except by a friend. An impressionist painting of this kind is therefore a note about a relation between two people. As wall art it is warm and small; it works on a darker wall and in a room where things are looked at close to. A canvas painting for a study suits it very well.
The motif among Degas’s works
Degas mostly portrayed people he knew. Hilaire de Gas is the portrait of his grandfather, Achille De Gas in the Uniform of a Cadet the portrait of a young man from the same family, and Joseph-Henri Altès the portrait of a musician with no instrument. This work is catalogued in the Degas catalogue raisonné as MS 737, and the same man appears again in a second Degas portrait, MS 741, larger and on board.
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 shadow under the hat brim is the hardest part. Too dark, and the face disappears; too light, and the hat does not sit on the head. So we build it in several thin layers and paint the eyes only afterwards. The other demanding part is the ground: it has to look like a plastered wall rather than an even colour, so we paint it with several tones of brown and pink. We paint the top hat last, because it is the lightest area. 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: 40 x 50 cm. The original measures 43 x 36 cm and is therefore small; our 30 x 40 cm size comes nearest to it in size, while in proportion the nearest is 40 x 50 cm, because our sizes run narrower and taller than the original. The 30 x 40 cm size is for a narrow space or the wall beside a door, where the portrait is seen close to. The 40 x 50 cm size is the most frequent choice above a chest of drawers or a desk. The 50 x 70 cm size is for a larger wall, where the face holds up from a distance. At 60 x 80 cm we are at this motif’s largest size; here a large painting already works as a point of its own on the wall and the head 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 four 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 the top hat above stays whole and the shoulders below are not cut too high; 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?
Léon Bonnat. The work is held by the museum in Bayonne that carries his name.
Why is he wearing a hat?
Because he is painted as he arrived, and not as he would have been arranged for a sitting. In the portraiture of that time the hat usually came off.
Why does he not look at us?
His look is directed slightly down and past us, and the shadow of the brim falls across his eyes. The scene is a meeting, not a pose.
Where is the signature?
At the upper left, in the empty area of the ground. In Degas that is a rarity; his signatures are usually at the bottom.
Where is the original located?
In the Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne, under the inventory number 69.
How large is the original?
43 by 36 cm. Our 30 x 40 cm size comes nearest to it in size.
Why is the year given as “circa”?
Because that is how the catalogue of works gives it: circa 1863. Where the year is not exactly settled, we do not settle it either.
Are your sizes in the same proportion as the original?
No – ours run narrower and taller. In proportion the nearest is 40 x 50 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.
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 someone who likes portraits and warm, darker rooms. 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: a young bearded man to the chest, in a pale top hat with the shadow of the brim across his eyes, against a warm brown-pink ground
- Original: Edgar Degas, an oil painting on canvas, 43 x 36 cm, Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne (inv. 69)
- Ours: hand-painted in oil, four sizes from 30 x 40 to 60 x 80 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: the sitter is painted with his hat on – in the portraiture of that time the hat came off, and here the man is painted as he arrived
