Marie Dihau (1843–1935)

Marie Dihau (1843–1935) is an oil on canvas painting created by Edgar Degas between 1867 and 1868. This essential early portrait resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The subject, Marie Dihau, was a professional musician and the sister of Désiré Dihau, a bassoonist and close acquaintance of the artist.

The painting captures Marie Dihau in a formal profile portrait, a compositional choice that lends the subject a focused intensity and formal gravitas. Completed just prior to the Impressionist movement gaining full momentum, this work exemplifies Degas’s masterful transition from classical training toward Realism, prioritizing the representation of modern figures in familiar, yet compelling, ways.

Degas meticulously rendered the details of contemporary fashion and accessories. The subdued color palette and strong linear definition emphasize the subject’s reserved demeanor and the texture of her dress. The inclusion of accessories, such as the small purse prominently held in her hands, grounds the portrait in the specific realities of nineteenth-century women’s private lives, a recurrent theme in the artist’s work. The attention to profiles and the intimate study of individual women mark this canvas as an important precursor to Degas’s later, more candid depictions of dancers and laundresses.

As a significant example of early Degas portraiture, the work demonstrates the artist's ability to imbue formal studies with psychological depth. Scholars frequently study this painting alongside his contemporaneous work, and high-quality prints derived from public domain photographic documentation often serve as reference material for understanding the artist's development during this critical period.