Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009229Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting
by Edgar Degas
About the Artwork
The upper left corner of this painting bears a dedication by Degas "to his dear friends." The double portrait depicts Paul Lafond (left), future curator of the art museum at Pau, in southwestern France, and Alphonse Cherfils (right), an art collector and defender of the Impressionists. Through the influence of these friends, Degas's works were selected for the annual exhibitions of the Société des Amis des Arts (Society of Friends of the Arts), and his painting, A Cotton Office (1873), was the first by the artist to be purchased by a museum. Since the painting held by the two men is probably by Degas, this intimate image commemorates both personal and business relationships.
Inscriptions
Signed in upper left: Degas / a [sic] ses chers amis
Provenance
Alphonse Cherfils, Pau, France, by descent to his son, Christian Cherfils Christian Cherfils, Pau, France Marcel Guérin [1873-1948], Paris, France 1950: (Wildenstein & Co., New York, NY, January 10, 1950, sold to Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.) 1950-1958: Leonard C. Hannah [1889-1957], Cleveland, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1958-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Private Degas. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 20-February 28, 1987); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge CB2 1RB (March 17-May 3, 1987). Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 28-July 30, 2000). Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris. Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara (Galleria d'Arte Moderna et Contemporanea) (September 14-November 16, 2003); Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland (December 12, 2003-February 29, 2004). Degas and Rodin - Giants of Modernism. Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Germany (organizer) (October 25, 2016-February 26, 2017).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
- Date
- c. 1878–80
- Medium
- oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 42.5 x 50 x 6 cm (16 3/4 x 19 11/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 27 x 34 cm (10 5/8 x 13 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
- Accession no.
- 1958.25
More by Edgar Degas in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009229
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