Portrait of Charles Hayem

Marcellin Desboutin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In his prints, Desboutin usually built the image over several successive states, often manipulating the inking, and signing or dedicating various versions to his friends – such as he did in this portrait of the collector Charles Hayem. This impression is a previously unrecorded state. The inscription below the loosely-outlined portrait in English reads: "to the friend Degas / the very first proof / M. Desboutin / April [18]76." If correct, then the inscription would mean that this print was not only likely owned by the painter Edgar Degas, but also should be dated 1876 rather than the commonly presumed date of 1877.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art