Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895)

Joseph-Henri Altès was the principal flutist at the Paris Opéra Comique and a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, painted by Degas around 1868–1869 as part of the series of musician portraits that culminated in his great Orchestra of the Paris Opéra. Altès was a friend of the Dihau family who connected Degas to the Opéra's musical establishment. The individual musician portrait, showing Altès without his instrument, is a counterpart to Degas's crowded orchestral scenes — here the professional is encountered as an individual personality rather than a playing musician.

Degas renders Altès in a conventional three-quarter portrait format, the sitter's direct gaze giving the work the psychological immediacy of his best portraiture. The background is kept simple and dark, focusing attention on the face and the studied informality of Altès's seated posture.