Edgar DegasActresses in Their Dressing Rooms1879-1880
1879-1880
About the Item
- Creator:Edgar Degas (1834-1917, French)
- Creation Year:1879-1880
- Dimensions:Height: 6.25 in (15.88 cm)Width: 8.25 in (20.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Fairlawn, OH
- Reference Number:
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas, born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas in Paris in 1834, was the oldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas, a Creole from New Orleans, and Augustin De Gas, a banker. Degas began his schooling at age eleven, enrolling in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, but after his mother died when he was thirteen, his father and grandfather became the main influences on him for the remainder of his youth.
Upon graduating the Lycée in 1853, at age 18, he registered as a copyist in the Louvre Museum, but his father expected him to go to law school. Degas duly enrolled at the faculty of law of the University of Paris, in November 1853, but applied little effort to his studies. In 1855, Degas met Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, whose advice he never forgot: “Draw lines, young man, and still more lines, both from life and from memory, and you will become a good artist.” In April of that year, Degas was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts.
Evidence of Degas’ classical education can be seen in his early painting, Young Spartans Exercising (ca. 1860; National Gallery, London), done while he was still in his twenties. After 1865, when the Salon accepted his history painting The Misfortunes of the City of Orléans (Musée d'Orsay, Paris), Degas did not paint Academic subjects again, focusing his attention on scenes of modern life. He began to paint scenes of such urban leisure activities as horse racing and, after about 1870, of café-concert singers and ballet dancers. Degas' interest in ballet dancers intensified in the 1870s, and eventually he produced approximately 1,500 works on the subject. These are not traditional portraits, but studies that address the movement of the human body, exploring the physicality and discipline of the dancers through the use of contorted postures and unexpected vantage points.
Following the opening of trade with Japan in 1854, many French artists, including Degas, were increasingly influenced by Japanese prints. Degas abstracted from these prints their inventive compositions and points of view, particularly in his use of cropping and asymmetry [Dancers Practicing at the Bar (1877); Dancers, Pink and Green (ca. 1890)]. He also observed how sixteenth-century Italian Mannerists similarly framed their subjects, sometimes cutting off part of a figure.
Degas had an interest in a wide range of media, including engraving, monotype, and photography. Before 1880, he generally used oils for his completed works, but after 1875, he began using pastels more frequently, even in finished works such as Portraits at the Stock Exchange (1876). He submitted a suite of nudes, all rendered in pastel, to the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886; among these was Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub (1885). The figures in these pastels were criticized for their ungainly poses.
By the late 1880s, Degas’s eyesight had begun to fail, perhaps as a result of an injury suffered during his service in defending Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. After that time he focused almost exclusively on dancers and nudes, increasingly turning to sculpture. Degas continued working as late as 1912, when he was forced to leave the studio in Montmartre in which he had labored for more than twenty years. He died five years later in 1917, at the age of eighty-three.
Find original Edgar Degas drawings, prints, paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Stern Pissarro Gallery)
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Akron, OH
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 10 days of delivery.
- La Negresse (The Negress)By Louis LegrandLocated in Fairlawn, OHLa Negresse (The Negress) Etching & drypoint, 1909 Unsigned (as issued in the portfolio) From the album "Les Bars" (8 plates plus cover illustration) Editi...Category
Early 1900s Art Nouveau Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- The Art of Conversation (Three characters on...)By Marcel GromaireLocated in Fairlawn, OHThe Art of Conversation (Three characters on...) Etching, 1958 Signed in pencil lower right: “Gromaire” (see photo) Edition: 110 (18/110) see photo Printed on RIVES paper Publisher: ...Category
1950s Cubist Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- The So-Called Tempio della Tosse, Near Tivoli. Interior UprightBy Giovanni Battista PiranesiLocated in Fairlawn, OHThe So-Called Tempio della Tosse, Near Tivoli. Interior Upright (Veduta interna del Tempio della Tosse) "Temple of the Cough" Etching, 1764 Signed in the plate From: Vedute di Roma...Category
1760s Old Masters Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- S. Paolo Fuori Le Mura (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura)By Giovanni Battista PiranesiLocated in Fairlawn, OHS. Paolo Fuori Le Mura (Vedute della Basilica di S. Paolo fuor della mura) Etching, 1748 From...Category
1740s Old Masters Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- Gaiety BurleskBy Reginald MarshLocated in Fairlawn, OHGaiety Burlesque Etching, 1930 Unsigned (as usual for the Whitney edition); Numbered in pencil lower left; Blind stamp of the Whitney Museum (WM) lower right Edition: 114, regular ed...Category
1930s American Modern Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- The Woman and the StreetBy Marc ChagallLocated in Fairlawn, OHThe Woman and the Street Etching, 1927-1930 Signed in the plate lower right corner (see photo) From: The Fables of La Fontaine, Plate 84 From the deluxe portfolio edition of 40 examples, printed on japan nacré paper Printed by Maurice Potin, 1927-1930 Published by Tériade, éditeur, Paris, 1952 Reference: Johnson 174 Condition: Tape stain top center recto from pervious hinging. Image/Plate size: 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches Sheet size: 15 1/8 x 11 1/8 inches The Women and the Secret There's nothing like a secret weighs; Too heavy 'tis for women tender; And, for this matter, in my days, I've seen some men of female gender. To prove his wife, a husband cried, (The night he knew the truth would hide,) 'O Heavens! What's this? O dear...Category
1920s French School Prints and Multiples
MaterialsEtching
- Otto Goetze, Interior With Standing Nude & Mirror, EtchingLocated in Cheltenham, GBThis early 20th-century etching by German artist Otto Goetze (1868-1931) depicts a nude within a bedroom setting. She poses while holding a mirror and catching her reflection. Goetze was a master of provocative scenes such as this. Seemingly obsessed with the female form, his skilful etchings portray women in various states of undress. It’s interesting to consider how tastes changed during the period he worked and how the line shifted between nudes as an artwork and the more overt world of eroticism. Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920) is one of the more prominent artists of this genre, particularly during the early 20th century. His earlier depictions of nudes were often portrayed under the guise of mythological subjects - wood nymphs and such - making them more palatable for display in the home. However, as time progressed, they were simply a celebration of form. Here, in around 1915, we see a work by Goetze that suggests a narrative. She’s perhaps looking at her hairstyle. Checking whether it’s ok from the reverse. She happens to be naked but within the boundaries of acceptable taste. Note how she’s without pubic hair...Category
Early 20th Century Impressionist Interior Prints
MaterialsPaper, Etching
- "Bottles" - Etching in Ink on Paper (Artist's Proof)By Doris WarnerLocated in Soquel, CAStill life etching by Doris Ann Warner (American, 1925-2010). Several ornate bottles are arranged on a shelf. There is a splatter effect in this piece, c...Category
1980s American Impressionist Interior Prints
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Etching
- "Still Life" - Etching in Ink on Paper (Artist's Proof)By Doris WarnerLocated in Soquel, CAStill life etching with jars by Doris Ann Warner (American, 1925-2010). Four jars sit on a countertop. Overlapping fabric patterns like cheesecloth are used to create shadows and tex...Category
1980s American Impressionist Interior Prints
MaterialsInk, Etching, Paper
- THE BEGGERS - possibly unique state exampleBy James Abbott McNeill WhistlerLocated in Santa Monica, CAJAMES ABBOTT McNEILL WHISTLER (1834 – 1903) THE BEGGARS 1879-80 (Glasgow 190 x/xvii: K.194 ii/ix?: M.191: W.159) Etching and drypoint, from “Venice, a Series ...Category
1880s American Impressionist Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- "City Market" Juarez, Mexico El Paso Texas Artist extrememly detailed etchingBy Lewis Teel Jr.Located in San Antonio, TXLewis Teel Jr. 1913-1995 El Paso Artist Image Size: 9 x 7 Frame Size: 16 x 14 Medium: Etching Circa 1930s "City Market" Juarez, Mexico Biography Lewis Teel Jr. 1913-1995 Lewis Woods...Category
1930s Impressionist Interior Prints
MaterialsEtching
- ConcertoBy Henry MooreLocated in London, GBEtching and aquatint in black on Auvergne paper Image Size: 13 x 10 cm Sheet Size: 32 x 25 cm Framed 48.7 x 41 cm Edition of 50 hand-signed and numbered by the artist.Category
1960s Modern Portrait Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint