Object Image

Portrait of Mlle. Hortense Valpinçon

Throughout his life, Degas was a frequent guest at Ménil-Hubert, the country estate of his childhood friend Paul Valpinçon. Located in Normandy, Ménil-Hubert offered the artist a pleasant change of scenery and a family of captive yet willing models, whom he depicted on numerous occasions. This portrait of his host's eldest child and only daughter, Hortense, ranks among the most memorable products of those visits and stands as the most winning depiction of a child from Degas's long career.

The circumstances surrounding the portrait's creation were documented in the 1930s during an interview with Hortense, then Madame Jacques Fourchy. She said that, having come to Ménil-Hubert in haste, Degas wa...

c. 1871
Oil on mattress ticking
29.8 x 44.8in
48.1
Image and text courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2022

Where you'll find this

Minneapolis Institute of Art
Permanent collection