Fine Art Poster
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A giclée print on 200gsm matte fine art paper, using a twelve-colour process for accurate, fade-resistant colour. Supplied unframed, delivered flat or rolled.
Cotton Merchants in New Orleans - Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas
Regular price
$29.00 USD
Sale price
$29.00 USD
Regular price
Archival giclée
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Description
A study of commerce in 19th-century New Orleans, this work captures men inspecting raw cotton in a brokerage office.
This work captures a moment within the office of a cotton brokerage in New Orleans. Edgar Degas painted this during his visit to the United States in 1872 and 1873, where he stayed with his mother's family. The composition focuses on the mundane activities of commerce, showing men examining raw cotton samples on a large table.
Degas employs a muted palette, dominated by shades of white, beige, and dark tones for the figures' attire. The man in the foreground, wearing a top hat, leans over the cotton, while another figure stands nearby in a straw hat. The artist uses loose brushwork to define the texture of the cotton, contrasting it with the more structured appearance of the men. A framed picture hangs on the wall to the right, adding a sense of depth to the interior space.
Unlike the grand historical subjects common in the French Academy, this piece reflects the artist's interest in contemporary life and the specific environment of the American South. The perspective is slightly elevated, allowing the viewer to observe the scene as if present in the room. The work demonstrates the artist's ability to find visual interest in everyday professional settings. It remains a notable example of his experimentation with composition and subject matter during his mid-career period.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
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Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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Cotton Merchants in New Orleans - Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas
Regular price
From $29.00 USD
Sale price
From $29.00 USD
Regular price
Fine Art Poster / A4 (21x29.7 cm) / -
Artist Biography
Edgar Degas
Degas changed the spelling of his own name. He was born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, into a Parisian banking family, and dropped the aristocratic particle to become simply Degas. His father wanted him to study law. He enrolled in law school, then quietly registered as a copyist at the Louvre instead.
More than half of his entire output depicts dancers. He became a fixture at the Paris Opera, watching from the wings and from boxes above the stage, sketching not the performance but the work behind it: the stretching, the waiting, the adjusting of shoes, the corrections from the ballet master. The backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.
In 1881, he exhibited Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a two-thirds life-size wax figure of Marie van Goethem, a real student at the Opera ballet school. She wore a real tutu, real ballet slippers, and a wig of human hair, all coated in wax. Critics called it repulsive. One described the girl as having a face marked by the hateful promise of every vice. Wax was a material for anatomical specimens, not art. It was the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. After his death, 150 more wax figures were found in his studio, many falling apart.
His eyesight began failing during the Franco-Prussian War. By his forties he had lost central vision. By fifty-seven he could not read. The deterioration drove him from fine brushwork to bolder strokes, then to pastels, then to sculpture he could work by touch. He avoided daylight and painted under controlled artificial light. Collectors joked they should chain their Degas paintings to the wall, because he would try to take them back to rework them. He compulsively revised everything.
He disliked being called an Impressionist. He preferred Realist or Independent. He never painted outdoors, which was supposedly the whole point of the movement. Despite this, he co-founded the group, organised their exhibitions, and showed in all eight. He said: there is love and there is art and we only have one heart. He never married.
More than half of his entire output depicts dancers. He became a fixture at the Paris Opera, watching from the wings and from boxes above the stage, sketching not the performance but the work behind it: the stretching, the waiting, the adjusting of shoes, the corrections from the ballet master. The backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.
In 1881, he exhibited Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a two-thirds life-size wax figure of Marie van Goethem, a real student at the Opera ballet school. She wore a real tutu, real ballet slippers, and a wig of human hair, all coated in wax. Critics called it repulsive. One described the girl as having a face marked by the hateful promise of every vice. Wax was a material for anatomical specimens, not art. It was the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. After his death, 150 more wax figures were found in his studio, many falling apart.
His eyesight began failing during the Franco-Prussian War. By his forties he had lost central vision. By fifty-seven he could not read. The deterioration drove him from fine brushwork to bolder strokes, then to pastels, then to sculpture he could work by touch. He avoided daylight and painted under controlled artificial light. Collectors joked they should chain their Degas paintings to the wall, because he would try to take them back to rework them. He compulsively revised everything.
He disliked being called an Impressionist. He preferred Realist or Independent. He never painted outdoors, which was supposedly the whole point of the movement. Despite this, he co-founded the group, organised their exhibitions, and showed in all eight. He said: there is love and there is art and we only have one heart. He never married.
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The same fine art print in a solid wood frame with UV-protective acrylic glaze and rigid backing. Five frame colours. Arrives ready to hang.
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