Portrait of a Seated Man
circa 1864-68
Edgar Degas captures a moment of quiet exhaustion in this moody portrait from the mid-1860s, long before he became famous for his pastel ballerinas. The seated gentleman, dressed in a sharp dark coat and brown trousers, slumps slightly with a cane in hand, looking as if he's just returned from a long day. Notice the rough, textured background in murky yellows and greens—it shows Degas experimenting with the loose brushwork that would soon define the Impressionist movement, even though he famously hated being labeled an Impressionist!
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