The story of the address

Edgar Degas, at 13 rue Victor Massé

In 1859 a 25-year-old painter set up his studio at what is now the hotel's address.

Who was Edgar Degas?

Edgar Degas (Paris, 1834 — Paris, 1917) is one of the greatest French painters of the 19th century and a founding figure of Impressionism, taking part in almost every one of its exhibitions from 1874 on. He gave us the Opéra dancers, the racecourse scenes, the milliners and the women at their toilette. He himself rejected the Impressionist label and called himself a “realist”: where Monet painted outdoor light, Degas drew the movement of bodies, almost always in the studio, with a precision inherited from classical draughtsmanship.

The Dance Class by Edgar Degas: dancers and ballet master Jules Perrot in the Opéra rehearsal room — The Dance Class, 1873–1876 — Musée d'Orsay · Public domain

His studio, at the hotel's address

In 1859, back from a long stay in Italy, Degas set up his studio at number 13 rue de Laval — a street renamed rue Victor Massé in 1887. It is the very address of the Hôtel Migny. He was 25, still unknown, and it was there that he began the work that would make his name.

The Bellelli Family by Edgar Degas: portrait of Laure Bellelli, Baron Bellelli and their two daughters, painted in Florence — The Bellelli Family (Family Portrait), 1858–1867 — Musée d'Orsay · Public domain

The painters' district

Degas would hardly ever leave this area: the Nouvelle Athènes and Pigalle, between place Saint-Georges and boulevard de Clichy, where artists, models and colour merchants lived and worked. He died in 1917 a few hundred metres from here, on boulevard de Clichy.

L'Absinthe by Edgar Degas: a couple seated at the Nouvelle Athènes café, place Pigalle — L'Absinthe (In a Café), 1875–1876 — Musée d'Orsay · Public domain

Seeing his work today

The world's largest Degas collection is at the Musée d'Orsay, about 20 minutes from the hotel: Dance Class at the Opera (1872), The Dance Class and the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Ten minutes on foot, the Musée Gustave Moreau and the Musée de la Vie romantique tell the story of the same streets at the same time.

See Degas at the Musée d'Orsay

The Star by Edgar Degas: a lone dancer on the Opéra stage, seen from above — The Star (Dancer on Stage), 1876–1877 — Musée d'Orsay · Public domain

Sources: Wikipedia · Musée d'Orsay — Edgar Degas · Wikimedia Commons · Montmartre Footsteps

Reproductions of works by Edgar Degas (died 1917): public domain. Files from Wikimedia Commons (PD / PD-old / CC0).

Sleep at Degas' address

Our rooms are at 13 rue Victor Massé, between Pigalle and Montmartre.

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