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| Edgar Degas Jephthah's Daughter ca. 1860 oil on canvas Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts |
At the beginning of his artistic career, between 1860 and 1865, Edgar Degas painted five ambitious historical scenes in oil on canvas (seen here in chronological order). For the young Degas, the tradition of "history painting" still retained its high claim to prestige. The fifth of these experimental compositions dramatized a subject from the American Civil War. It was called The Sufferings of the City of New Orleans. Degas chose that painting to make his debut at the Paris Salon in 1865, but was then disappointed at its poor reception. After that, the artist abandoned history painting, making no further attempts to update the genre.
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| Edgar Degas Young Spartans Exercising 1860 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
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| Edgar Degas Semiramis Building Babylon 1861 oil on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Alexander and Bucephalus 1861-62 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Edgar Degas The Sufferings of the City of New Orleans 1865 oil on paper, mounted on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Portrait of Thérèse de Gas ca. 1865 oil on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Double Portrait - The Cousins of the Painter 1865 oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut |
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| Edgar Degas Woman Ironing 1869 oil on canvas Neue Pinakothek, Munich |
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| Edgar Degas At the Races in the Countryside 1869 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Edgar Degas Madame Camus at the Piano 1869 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Edgar Degas The Pedicurist 1873 oil on paper, mounted on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Madame Jeantaud in the Mirror 1875 oil on canvas Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Music-Hall Singer 1875-77 gouache and pastel over monotype private collection |
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| Edgar Degas Café Concert at Les Ambassadeurs 1876 pastel over monotype Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon |
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| Edgar Degas Aux Ambassadeurs - Mademoiselle Bécat ca. 1877-85 pastel over lithograph private collection |
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| Edgar Degas Women on the Terrace of a Café ca. 1877 pastel Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
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| Edgar Degas Dancers in the Wings ca. 1880 pastel and tempera on paper Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena |
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| Edgar Degas Girl with Hat ca. 1887-90 oil on canvas private collection |