Madame Rene De Gas

Edgar Degas painted his first cousin Estelle Musson during his 1872 visit to New Orleans. She had married his brother René and was nearly blind from chronic eye disease. Degas, whose own vision was deteriorating, deeply identified with her condition. The portrait shows her arranging flowers by touch and smell instead of sight.

Estelle suffered from chorioretinitis, the same condition affecting Degas. During his New Orleans stay, he developed fondness for her, painting five works featuring his cousin. The soft focus and subdued colors reflect her visual limitations while demonstrating Degas's compassion. Now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.