Street Scene, La-Queue-en-Brie (Val-de-Marne)

Street Scene, La-Queue-en-Brie (Val-de-Marne) by Edgar Degas is a rare and compelling example of the artist's late-career experimentation with photography, created between 1894 and 1898. Classified as a photograph, this piece utilizes the gelatin silver print process, a common technique in the late 19th century that allowed for precise detail and a subtle tonal range. Though primarily known as a foundational painter and sculptor of the Impressionist movement, Degas maintained a deep, often private, interest in the developing field of photography, using the camera as a tool for intimate study and documentation, particularly outside his established studio practice.

The work captures a moment of ordinary life in the Paris suburb of La-Queue-en-Brie. Unlike the highly posed portraits Degas occasionally created, this street scene possesses a candid, almost accidental quality, reflecting the influence of instantaneous photography on composition. The image features several figures moving or standing near a structure; Men and Women are seen navigating the public space. These subjects are often partially obscured or captured mid-motion, which lends the piece a sense of immediacy and fleeting reality characteristic of the flâneur's perspective. The artist’s focus here is not on capturing a grand vista but on the mundane interactions and accidental geometry found within everyday public space.

This late period experimentation confirms Degas’s dedication to exploring new methods of representation even as his eyesight deteriorated. The shift from painting and pastel to the mechanical precision of the camera, specifically the light-sensitive gelatin silver print, highlights his lifelong inquiry into form and perspective. Although many of Degas’s photographs were initially intended as private references, they now stand as significant artworks in their own right, demonstrating his profound understanding of light and shadow. This important example of his photographic output resides in the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering critical insight into the private working methods of one of the 19th century's most innovative masters.