Portrait of Zacherie Zacharian 1886

Editor: We are looking at Edgar Degas' "Portrait of Zacherie Zacharian" from 1886, believed to be rendered in pastel on paper. There's a definite pensiveness to the portrait, a quiet introspection. What grabs your attention most about this work? Curator: It’s that almost tangible sense of observation. The work possesses a raw quality – almost as if Degas has captured Zacharian not posing, but caught up in a private thought, cigarette smoke curling about his contemplative features. Editor: The cigarette almost feels like a symbol, maybe a distraction, from the thoughts brewing in Zacharian’s mind. Curator: Exactly! And the textures created by the pastel are magnificent. Notice the varied strokes, the way Degas captures the light on Zacharian’s face, and the texture of his beard with such delicate energy. Are you getting a sense of Degas playing with visibility here? Editor: Now that you mention it, there is an interplay of finished and unfinished, light and shadow. It's as if Degas is showing us both what he sees and the process of seeing itself. Almost like a visual record of thinking about someone. Curator: Beautifully put! Degas uses the immediacy of pastel to suggest the fleeting nature of a moment, of a mood. And notice the somewhat neutral palette, how the warmth of the face seems to emerge. What does this suggest about their relationship, do you think? Editor: Perhaps it's a study of character rather than an attempt to flatter, a peek behind the public persona, something more familiar and personal. Curator: It leaves us, intriguingly, with more questions than answers, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely! I’ll never look at a portrait the same way again.