Portrait of Paul Valpin?on, c. 1855, Edgar Degas, French, 1834 - 1917, 15 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. (40.32 x 32.39 cm) (canvas)24 x 20 3/8 x 3 1/8 in. (60.96 x 51.75 x 7.94 cm) (outer frame), Oil on canvas, France, 19th century, Edgar Degas and Paul Valpin?on had a lifelong friendship that began even before the two became classmates in 1846. In fact, their fathers were friends. Paul¡¦s father, Edouard Valpin?on, played a role in Degas¡¦s artistic development by encouraging the young artist¡¦s interest in the French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Degas¡¦s admiration of Ingres is apparent in the crisp, classicizing manner with which he captured his friend¡¦s likeness in this portrait.