Desc: Degas in New Orleans: A Creole Sojourn: Directed by David M. Jones. In 1872, Edgar Degas visited his maternal Creole family, the Mussons, at their home in New Orleans, in what was to prove a pivotal moment in his career. Although he had painted ballerinas and the races, he was not well known and had never shown in a commercial gallery. In the family portraiture and paintings of cotton merchants accomplished during this brief five-month period in New Orleans, Degas defined his style and returned to Paris, where he joined with his colleagues to present the first Impressionist show.