id: 130528 accession number: 1953.268 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.268 updated: 2024-03-26 01:58:28.056000 Diego Martelli, 1879. Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917). Charcoal and white chalk; sheet: 44 x 31.3 cm (17 5/16 x 12 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1953.268 title: Diego Martelli title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1879 creation date earliest: 1879 creation date latest: 1879 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: charcoal and white chalk 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: 44 x 31.3 cm (17 5/16 x 12 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: brown wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: stamped in red, at lower left: Degas estate stamp (Lugt 658) 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, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961). title: Drawings opening date: 1963-01-11T05:00:00 Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). title: French Drawings opening date: 1965-11-16T05:00:00 French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966). title: Drawings by Edgar Degas opening date: 1967-01-20T05:00:00 Drawings by Edgar Degas. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (January 20-February 26, 1967); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (March 10-April 30, 1967); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (May 16-June 25, 1967). title: Degas 1879 opening date: 1979-08-13T04:00:00 Degas 1879. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 30, 1979). title: Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism opening date: 1980-02-19T05:00:00 Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980). title: The Impressionist Aesthetic opening date: 1982-08-10T04:00:00 The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982). title: National Schools of Style opening date: 1983-06-14T04:00:00 National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983). title: Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988 opening date: 1991-04-02T05:00:00 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: Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris opening date: 2003-09-14T00:00:00 Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland (December 12, 2003-February 29, 2004). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Edgar Degas: Pastelle, Olskizzen, Zeichnungen. Kunsthalle Tubingen (January 14 - March 18, 1984); Nationalgalerie, Berlin (April 4 - May 20, 1984).', 'opening_date': '1984-01-14T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Degas 1879. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (August 13 - September 30, 1979).', 'opening_date': '1979-08-13T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Drawings by Degas. City Art Museum, St. Louis (January 20 - February 26, 1967); Philadelphia Museum of Art (March 10 - April 30, 1967); Minneapolis Institute of Arts (May 16 - June 25, 1967).', 'opening_date': '1967-01-20T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Estate of Edgar Degas [1834-1917], Paris date: 1879-1919 footnotes: *
Lugt 658, lower left, in red ink
citations: (Galerie Georges Petit, third Degas sale, Paris, April 8-9, 1919, no. 160.1, probably sold to Georges Viau) date: 1919 footnotes: citations: Georges Viau [1855-1939], Paris date: probably 1919-? footnotes: *
According to label formerly on back of frame; no. 21, titled "Portrait de graveur Diego Martelli étude pour le tableau"
citations: Mme. Demotte, Paris date: ?-? footnotes: citations: B. Natanson, Paris date: ?-? footnotes: *
According to label formerly on back of frame.
citations: (Victor D. Spark, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) date: by 1950-1953 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1953- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Catalogue des tableaux, pastels, et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier...3e vente... Paris: Georges Petit, 1919. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: no. 160 url: "Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, April - June 1953." Art Quarterly 16, no. 4 (Winter 1953): 346-365. page number: Mentioned: p. 353 url: Francis, Henry S. "Drawings by Degas." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 44, no. 10 (December 1957): 212-217. page number: Mentioned: p. 216; Reproduced: cover url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25142248 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. 602 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n112 Boggs, Jean Sutherland. Portraits by Degas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962. page number: Mentioned: p. 123 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 172 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n196 Boggs, Jean Sutherland. Drawings by Degas. Exh. Cat. St. Louis: City Art Museum of Saint Louis, 1966. page number: Mentioned: p. 142, no. 89; Reproduced: p. 141 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 172 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n196 Degas' Drawings. New York: Dover, 1973. page number: Mentioned: p. viii, no. 76; Reproduced: pl. 76 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 213 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n233 Pickvance, Ronald. Degas 1879. Exh. Cat. Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland, 1979. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 54, no. 56 url: Johnson, Mark M. Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980. page number: Mentioned: pp. 59-60; Reproduced: p. 60 url: Adriani, Götz. Edgar Degas: Pastelle, Olskizzen, Zeichnungen. Exh. Cat. Tubingen: Kunsthalle, 1984. page number: Mentioned: pp. 372-3, no. 130 url: Sutton, Denys. Edgar Degas: Life and Work. New York: Rizzoli, 1986. page number: Mentioned: pp. 10, 290; Reproduced: p. 286, pl. 276 url: Boggs, Jean Sutherland, et al. Degas. Exh. Cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988. page number: Mentioned: p. 312 url: Weingrod, Carmi. "The Essence of Charcoal." American Artist 57, no. 616 (November 1993): 10-16. page number: Reproduced: p. 12 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.268/1953.268_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.268/1953.268_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.268/1953.268_full.tif