Portrait of Mme Lisle and Mme Loubens

Museum record 79586: Portrait of Mme Lisle and Mme Loubens by Edgar Degas. A verified entry point for discovery.

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For Portrait of Mme Lisle and Mme Loubens (record 79586), start with modern, expressive, atmospheric. Compare the focal subject, edge treatment, and atmosphere before moving on.

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Edgar Degas rarely accepted portrait commissions; his sitters were almost always family members or people within his social circle. The two women in this somber, unfinished painting were identified through preparatory drawings that label them as “Mme Lisle” (left) and “Mme Loubens” (right). Both were friends of artist Édouard Manet’s family; they likely met Degas at a gathering at Manet’s home. In an 1869 letter, artist Berthe Morisot lamented that Degas had abandoned her at one such soirée for the compa…