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EDGAR DEGAS, (French, 1834-1917), SELF-PORTRAIT (IN LIBRARY), "Portrait de Degas à moi offert par...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD
EDGAR DEGAS, (French, 1834-1917), SELF-PORTRAIT (IN LIBRARY),  Portrait de Degas à moi offert par...
EDGAR DEGAS
(French, 1834-1917)
SELF-PORTRAIT (IN LIBRARY)
"Portrait de Degas à moi offert par Edmond de Gas, son neveu
Georges Grappe, Jan. 1925"
inscribed in pencil on verso
gelatin silver print
image: 47/8 x 61/16 in. (12.4 x 15.4 cm)
paper: 6 x 7 in. (15.2 x 17.8 cm)
circa 1895
ESTIMATE: $40,000-60,000
<p>PROVENANCE
From the artist to Edmond de Gas
(the artist's nephew)
to Georges Grappe (curator and author)
in January 1925
Private Collection (since circa 1975)
<p>LITERATURE
Malcolm Daniel, EDGAR DEGAS, PHOTOGRAPHER, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999, pl. 23,
cat. no. 21a (illustrated)
The great French Impressionist, Edgar Degas, pursued photography late in his career. Perhaps due to his failing eyesight, Degas appreciated the substitute eyes that the camera offered him. His entire body of known photographs, which numbers approximately 50 images, was created in less than five years, beginning in 1895. In contrast to his loose and spontaneous strokes on canvas and paper, the artist's approach to photography was more controlled and carefully orchestrated. He often used a large camera mounted on a tripod, 8 x 10 inch glass-plate negatives, and cropped the photographs to enforce his vision. Mainly shot indoors and at night, Degas's subjects are typically illuminated by a single light source. Emerging from darkness, they frequently recall the art of Rembrandt.
In the present work, Degas has photographed himself sitting in his library. Holding his hand to his chin, Degas assumes a pose of reflection that he often rendered in his painted portraits. The cropping and lighting of this print also correlate with the style of his paintings and drawings. The only other known print of this image resides in the Musée d'Orsay, and was purchased from the descendants of Jeanne Fevre, a niece of Degas, in 1992. The Musée d'Orsay version was displayed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition, EDGAR DEGAS, PHOTOGRApHER (1999), and was reproduced in the accompanying catalogue.