In 1865, then, when Estelle fled to Paris with her mother and sister to escape the oppressive rules of Civil War General Benjamin Butler, Degas unconsciously found in her a way to communicate his loss; as an exile, she became a medium through which to outline the thick sense of displacement that had pervaded his own mother in Paris. Why else would Degas, who had a reputation for being very “brusque” even with family members (Benfey 53), display such sheer sympathy for a cousin who was a stranger to him – indeed he had only met her a few weeks earlier? If we consider Degas’ watercolor Mme. Michel Musson and Her Daughters (1865), we see that Estelle’s sadness is depicted through the darkness of her outline in comparison with the figures in the rest of the painting: the exaggerated contour of her dress hide any trace of a chair or stool, and according to Benfey, “it seems as though she had sunk to the floor” (Benfey 51). His painting the image of an emotionally weak Estelle who needed to be cradled by her mother and sister, then, was also motivated by the memory of his mother, whose similar needs were tended by her relatives in her frequent trips to Naples. For Degas, the figure represented not only his cousin, the “sunken,” drowning widow to whom he must tend, but also his mother, a young woman drifting away from her Parisian environment (and from Auguste, her French husband).
Indeed, the “sunken,” gloomy imagery Degas associated with Estelle is even more pronounced in Young Woman in an Armchair (1865) in which Degas’ long, black pencil markings resemble the fluidity of tears. This portrait is perhaps his most strikingly melancholy image of Estelle, whose “sorrows were so deep that the gaiety was hardly exposed” (Feigenbaum 139); although her “sorrow” is often attributed to the loss of her husband, Degas’ emphasis of certain physical features that liken Estelle to his mother overwhelmingly suggest that Estelle’s “sorrow” is actually shared by the two women. Their physical semblance is illustrated by a photograph of an 1860 drawing of Estelle and a small portrait of Degas’ mother titled Celestine De Gas (1832-34); indeed, both satisfy Loyrette's description of Degas' mother as “a pretty young girl with a perfectly round face” (Loyrette 10). Degas therefore accentuated their similarities: he emphasized the roundness of Estelle’s face by comparing the oval outline of the pillow with her round cheeks. Degas also smoothed sharp pencil lines in Estelle’s facial region with softer pastels, making her cheeks swollen and glossy, as if she had been crying. This further relates the two women since his mother suffered as did Estelle upon her arrival in France from her native New Orleans; she would have known just as many tears.
Degas' works, moreover, became further defined by darker outlines that more clearly separated Estelle from her background, indicating his growing fascination with her sense of isolation. This is reminiscent of the ultimate futility of any of his mother’s efforts to feel at home in Paris: like his mother, Estelle is a stranger. In his Portrait of Estelle Musson (1865), for instance, Estelle’s eyes are heavily outlined with dark lines, which stand out against her pale face. This emphasis gives Estelle a sickly appearance that accompanies her unhealthy stay in Paris. Her figure, furthermore, seems more three-dimensional than the barren trees - the thin dark lines - in the background. She is out of place in the painting, yearning to come out of her exile in Paris but forced to stay, trapped by the thorns that seem to confine her by invading the outline of her head. Estelle could not avoid her impending sorrow in Paris, nor could Degas’ mother escape her premature death.
Images:
Degas, Edgar. Mme. Michel Musson and Her Daughters. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1865.
Degas, Edgar. Portrait of Estelle Musson Balfour. The Walter Art Museum, 1865.
Degas, Edgar. Young Woman in an Armchair (Drawing of Estelle Musson Balfour). Private Collection, the Bahamas, 1865.