Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895)

The portrait of flutist Joseph-Henri Altès was executed by Edgar Degas in 1868, measuring 27 cm by 21.6 cm and painted in oil on canvas. It depicts Altès in profile, forming part of Degas's series of individual Opéra musicians created that year. After its creation the work entered the collection of Louisine Havemeyer, who later bequeathed it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains today.

The 1868 portrait is currently held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having formerly belonged to Louisine Havemeyer. The available sources do not list a specific inventory or accession number for the work, nor do they document its exhibition history.

Executed in 1868, Edgar Degas's portrait of flutist Joseph-Henri Altès is situated within a specific phase of the artist's career dedicated to depicting musicians of the Paris Opéra. Art historical analysis groups this work alongside contemporary individual studies of bassoonist Désiré Dihau, cellist Louis-Marie Pilet, and guitarist Lorenzo Pagans. These portraits collectively serve as precursors to Degas's larger ensemble composition, The Orchestra at the Opera.

By focusing on individual performers during the Second Empire, the painting contributes to the broader narrative of Degas's interest in musical subjects prior to his full immersion into Impressionist circles. The work is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, having previously belonged to the collection of Louisine Havemeyer.

Edgar Degas's 1868 portrait of flutist Joseph-Henri Altès, measuring 27 × 21.6 cm, entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the bequest of Louisine Havemeyer and remains in the collection. Art historians regard the work as part of Degas's exploration of individual musicians of the Paris Opéra, a group of studies that preceded his later orchestral compositions such as L'Orchestre de l'Opéra. Its inclusion in the Havemeyer gift placed it among the Met's holdings of nineteenth-century French painting documenting the intersection of visual art and the musical life of the Second Empire.

Edgar Degas created this oil portrait of Joseph-Henri Altès in 1868. The artwork, titled after its subject, captures the individual in a focused, intimate manner. It is currently part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering a glimpse into Degas's early portraiture work. This painting exemplifies his interest in depicting figures with a sense of quiet observation.