Title: Degas

"Degas," Vollard related, "came in on the first day of the show with Mary Cassatt hanging on his arm; he was immaculately dressed as usual: top hat, frock coat, gray cravat, two-tone patent leather shoes, and he carried a gold-knobbed mahogany cane. Mademoiselle Cassatt told me she had met you at Monet's place in Giverny, that she had been impressed with what you said there, and that she was anxious to view your work. The two of them," Vollard continued, "remained for an hour, conversing quietly, while they studied the paintings.

At intervals, Degas fixed his pince-nez spectacles on the bridge of his nose, stood motionless for a moment or so, and then, raised his cane to emphasize a point which interested him. Once, as he studied one of the L'Estaque landscapes, he spoke out, in a rhetorical manner, not addressing Mademoiselle Cassatt or myself, saying: "How could we have underestimated this man?"

home