Portraits At The Stock Exchange 1878 - 1879

Curator: It strikes me immediately how heavy everything feels – weighty, even – in Degas' *Portraits At The Stock Exchange,* painted somewhere around 1878 or '79. There's this sort of oppressive stillness… Editor: Indeed. Edgar Degas crafted this oil painting to, in effect, present a visual commentary on French society during a time of burgeoning industrialization and capitalist expansion. Consider it a case study, if you will, of the individuals who propelled that era. Curator: Right, you feel like you're getting a peek behind the curtain. They almost seem caught off guard in their little world, their expressions are... I don't know, muted? The overall tonal quality amplifies the feeling. Not exactly inviting, is it? Editor: Their “muted” expressions, as you say, are telling. Degas deliberately presents them in a moment of introspective reflection, even uncertainty perhaps, amid the frenetic energy of the stock exchange. Observe the architectural lines looming, quite intentionally conveying an implicit sense of structure against organic human feeling. Curator: That interplay is definitely there. Almost claustrophobic, actually, now that I look again. Did he use particularly somber tones deliberately? What was he trying to *say*, beyond a simple record of who’s who at the Bourse? Editor: That somber palette isn’t arbitrary. One can read it as an indicator of the moral ambiguities inherent to that kind of unchecked financial power and speculation during this time. Degas makes the individuals inseparable from the market in which they are embedded. Wealth, labor, and society are being refigured in radical ways during this period of rapid social and economic upheaval. Curator: It makes one think – are these portraits actually flattering? Are they intended to be? You can practically smell the nervous energy… Or maybe that’s just my own reaction. Ha! Editor: Ah, but the genius is that you’re *supposed* to have a visceral reaction. Degas does not allow viewers to detach – you’re drawn into the complex social web that’s rendered with deft strokes and palpable textures, compelling us to ask questions about accountability and its relation to capital. Curator: Definitely powerful stuff when you look closely. All that said, I’d be nervous showing up late for a meeting with these folks… they seem very serious about punctuality! Editor: Quite. A study in power and progress. It resonates powerfully to this day.