Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting

Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting is an intimate and highly detailed oil on wood panel created by Edgar Degas over an extended period, dating approximately from 1873 to 1885. This work, firmly rooted in the culture of 19th-century France, captures a private moment of artistic evaluation, a theme Degas explored often in his portrayals of collectors, critics, and art dealers.

The composition focuses intensely on the two figures identified in the title: Paul Lafond, a prominent historian and later a major collector of the artist’s work, and Alphonse Cherfils. Degas uses the inherent rigidity of the wood panel medium to define the precise angles and sharp lighting that illuminates the men as they lean over an artwork invisible to the viewer. This focus allows Degas to emphasize the intellectual labor and concentrated scrutiny inherent in the appreciation of art, rather than focusing on the piece being examined.

Unlike his famous studies of dancers or bathers, this piece showcases Degas’s mastery of the portrait study and his interest in the intellectual class of Parisian society. The extended date range suggests that the artist may have utilized the support to revise the study over time or kept it as a personal observation sketch. Today, prints of the work, occasionally available through public domain collections, allow broader audiences to appreciate the observational power of Degas’s lesser-known character studies. This powerful painting is a significant highlight in the European holdings of the Cleveland Museum of Art.