id: 128808 accession number: 1951.430 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.430 updated: 2019-06-06 08:17:07.901000 Sheet of Studies and Sketches, 1858. Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917). Graphite (central head study), pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, and watercolor; sheet: 30.3 x 23.5 cm (11 15/16 x 9 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1951.430 title: Sheet of Studies and Sketches title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1858 creation date earliest: 1858 creation date latest: 1858 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: graphite (central head study), pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, and watercolor department: Drawings collection: DR - French type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) - artist Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence and attended life classes at the Villa Medici in Rome. A visit to Normandy in 1861 may have introduced him to the racetrack. In Paris he continued to study at the Louvre, where he met Manet (q.v.) in 1862. Apart from his continuous interest in portraiture and history painting, Degas began to pay attention to subjects of modern life. Between 1865 and 1870, he exhibited at the Salon. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, he enlisted in the artillery, but because of his poor eyesight he served (with Manet) in the infantry. After the war he traveled first to London and, in 1872-73, visited his uncle and brothers who had a cotton business in New Orleans. Degas participated in the first impressionist exhibition of 1874. He continued to exhibit with these artists until 1886 but never completely considered himself a member of the group, preferring to call himself a realist or naturalist. While many of the impressionists painted en plein air, Degas worked with models in his studio and, later in his career, from his imagination. In addition to painting, he experimented often with monotypes, engraving, pastels, sculpture, and photography. He traveled extensively-London, Naples, Spain, Morocco, and Switzerland-but continued to draw his subject matter from modern-day Paris. Other recurring themes would be the female nude and the ballet dancer. After the impressionist exhibition of 1886, Degas no longer participated in group shows. Instead he sold his works to private dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. In the 1890s he began his own art collection, which, besides many works on paper, included paintings by such artists as Ingres, Cézanne (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), and van Gogh (q.v.). His own art at the time became characterized by broader strokes of paint, charcoal, and pastel and the use of more vibrant colors, partly because of problems with his vision. His failing eyesight and poor health caused him to abandon his pursuit of art during the last years of his life. --- measurements: Sheet: 30.3 x 23.5 cm (11 15/16 x 9 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: ivory wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: by artist, lower left, in graphite: Flor. 1857; estate stamp, lower left, in red ink; verso, in top half, in blue crayon: Ph. 2249; in bottom half, in black chalk: [seul?] / haut 30 cm / larg 23 cm translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition opening date: 1958-03-03T05:00:00 Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959). title: Aspects of Drawing opening date: 1961-01-10T05:00:00 Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961). title: Drawings opening date: 1963-01-11T05:00:00 Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). title: French Drawings opening date: 1965-11-10T05:00:00 French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 1965-February 16, 1966). title: Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 1982-11-16T05:00:00 Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983). title: The Lessons of the Academy opening date: 1983-02-08T05:00:00 The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983). title: Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988 opening date: 1991-04-02T04:00:00 Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). title: French Drawings from the Collection opening date: 1994-12-13T05:00:00 French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). title: Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2000-08-27T00:00:00 Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). title: Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2014-03-09T00:00:00 Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * The Private Degas. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (January 20 - February 28, 1987); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (March 17 - May 3, 1987). * Ingres & Delacroix through Degas & Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800-1870. Shepherd Gallery, New York (May - June 1975). * 19th and 20th Century Drawings. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 19 - 24, 1965). --- PROVENANCE Estate of Edgar Degas [1834-1917], Paris date: 1858-1919 footnotes: * Lugt 658, lower left, in red ink; Lugt 657, verso, upper center, in red ink. citations: (Galerie Georges Petit, fourth Degas sale, Paris, July 2-4, 1919, no. 74b, sold to Nunès) date: 1919 footnotes: * As "Tête de femme. -- Tête d'homme. -- Lutteurs. -- Cavalier," for 2,000 F. citations: (Galerie Nunès et Fiquet, Paris) date: 1919-? footnotes: citations: * Catalogue des tableaux, pastels et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier dont la 4e et dernière vente aux enchères publiques, après décès de l'artiste (Paris: Georges Petit, 1919), no. 74b (annotated in catalogue, "2000 Nunes") page number: url: Private Collection date: After 1919-by 1931 footnotes: citations: * George, Waldemar. "The Youth of Degas."Formes15 (May 1931): opp. p. 76. page number: url: (Victor D. Spark, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1951 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1951- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The date Degas wrote on this drawing is incorrect; he didn't visit Florence until 1858, and must have inscribed the sheet years later. digital description: Degas traveled to Florence, Italy, in July 1858, where he made this sheet of studies. The featured imagery is fragmented and dissociated, suggesting the young artist's engagement with art of the past. The refined female head drawn at center in graphite was copied from a drawing then attributed to Leonardo da Vinco in the Uffizi Gallery's collection. Other sketches record Degas's responses to Florentine sculpture. At upper right, he sketched an informal portrait of his cousin Giulia Bellelli, probably from life. wall description: Although the sheet is inscribed "Flor. 1857" in the artist’s own hand, the date is incorrect. Degas visited Florence for the first time in 1858 and must have written the inscription many years later. The fragmented, disassociated imagery makes the drawing a beguiling document of artistic process and the young artist’s engagement with the art of the past. The refined female head drawn in graphite was copied from a drawing then attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in the Uffizi Gallery. Other sketches show Degas’s responses to Florentine sculpture. The small study in the upper right was likely made from life, perhaps an impromptu portrait of his cousin Giulia Bellelli. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Catalogue des tableaux pastels et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1919. page number: Reproduced: Lot 74b url: George, Waldemar. "The Youth of Degas." Formes 15 (May 1931). page number: Reproduced: p. 76 url: Graber, Hans. Edgar Degas nach eigenen und fremden Zeugnissen. Basel: Benno Schwabe und Co, 1942. page number: Mentioned: p. 246, Reproduced: opp. p. 20. url: Henry S. Francis. "Drawings by Degas." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 44 (December 1957). page number: Mentioned: p. 213; Reproduced: p. 210 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 601 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958#page=112 Reymert, L. H., Jon Hutton, and Gary Koehler. Ingres and Delacroix Through Degas and Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800-1870. Exh. Cat. New York: Shepherd Gallery, 1975. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 317-18 url: Minervino, Fiorella, and Franco Russoli. L'opera completa di Degas. Milano: Rizzoli, 1978. page number: Reproduced: pp. 86-87, no. 17 url: Thomson, Richard. The Private Degas. Exh. Cat. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, in association with Herbert 1987. page number: Mentioned: pp. 15-17, 51, 138, no. 10; Reproduced: plate 65. url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.430/1951.430_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.430/1951.430_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.430/1951.430_full.tif