The gentleman in this picture, Vicomte Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic (1839-1889), was a member of a Napoleonic aristocratic family and dedicated dabbler in many pursuits. Though art was one of them, he and Degas initially met through social, not artistic circles. (Degas, too, was "well-connected," as they say.) The Vicomte ended up starring in at least four canvases by his friend, and was persuaded by the same to exhibit in the first two Impressionist Salons. History has, alas, proved Lepic a better subject than painter.
Degas has here turned out a thoroughly Impressionistic canvas. It was clearly executed very quickly -- the oils nearly resemble watercolors (including some muddy areas), the Vicomte's face has a hasty feel and the whole thing looks more a sketch than a finished composition. Love the turquoise siding, though. I wonder if that was a color only wealthy people could afford?
Side note: Lepic loathed Paul Cézanne's work and did everything under the sun to ban him from exhibiting in the Impressionist Salons. This resulted in Lepic, himself, being banned after Salon #2.
About the Theft:
At around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, 2008, three thieves wearing dark clothing and ski masks entered the E. G. Bührle Collection on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland shortly before the facility was due to close for the day at 5:00 p.m. While one thief ordered visitors and staff, at gunpoint, to lay on the floor, the other two quickly stripped four side-by-side Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from a wall in the "Music Room." Law enforcement officials speculate that these canvases were not stolen "to order," due to the fact that they were hanging together when taken, and also because more valuable works are on display elsewhere in the Collection. $91K (US) in reward money leading to the return of these paintings is reported to be available.
About the Recovery:
Given the aforementioned bad blood between Ludovic Lepic and Paul Cézanne, it is somewhat ironic that we heard about Count Lepic and His Daughters during the 2012 press conference announcing that Cézanne's Boy in a Red Vest had been recovered. A reward of €400,000 ($524,000 US at the time) was paid to an unidentified person in exchange for the Degas canvas. In 2009. Wait ... what? Yes, 2009!
Why was there no word of its recovery for three years? No official has explained this as of yet, but we can guess it had to do with the ongoing investigation. You see, Count Lepic and His Daughters is quite nice, and since Degas hasn't painted for at least 95 years his work is hard to acquire. However, the fact remains that Count Lepic is a minor Degas, "only" worth about $11 million (US).
On the other hand, the Bührle Collection's Boy in a Red Vest is a major Cézanne. With a value ten times that of the Degas, it is the single most expensive work in a staggeringly expensive collection. Though four canvases were stolen in the 2008 robbery, the museum and the authorities wanted the Cézanne back in the worst way -- probably more fervently than the other three paintings put together. It isn't really surprising that we heard nothing about the Degas until after Boy in a Red Vest was safely in police custody.
