Detail of Lorenzo Pagans and Auguste De Gas by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: Lorenzo Pagans and Auguste De Gas

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: 1871–72

Geography: Country of Origin France

Culture: French

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 21 7/16 × 15 9/16 in. (54.5 × 39.5 cm)
Framed: 26 15/16 × 21 7/16 in. (68.5 × 54.4 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Musée d'Orsay, Paris (RF 3736)

Degas painted portraits of many members of his family, but never any of his father, Auguste, who had changed his surname to “De Gas” when he left Naples to settle in Paris as a banker. He appears in the background of this work, however, which depicts a musical evening at his home that featured the admired singer and guitar player Lorenzo Pagans. This painting belonged to a small group of works that Degas kept in his private quarters until the end of his life. After the artist’s death, a friend recorded having seen it hanging above his small iron bed.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/845047