Lot Essay
This work is a study for a larger pastel portrait of Mme May titled Portrait de femme près d'un berceau (P.A. Lemoisne, op.cit., no. 656). There is also a related study of the head only (ibid., no. 657).
Details
EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917)
Tete de femme (Portrait de Mme Ernest May)
stamped with signature bottom right Degas (Lugt 658)--
pastel on paper
16 1/8 x 11¾ in. (41 x 30 cm.)
Drawn 1881-1882
Tete de femme (Portrait de Mme Ernest May)
stamped with signature bottom right Degas (Lugt 658)--
pastel on paper
16 1/8 x 11¾ in. (41 x 30 cm.)
Drawn 1881-1882
Provenance
The artist's studio; fourth sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, July 2-4, 1919, lot 14 (illustrated, p. 19)
Etienne May, Paris
Anon. sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Oct. 23, 1980, lot 308A
Etienne May, Paris
Anon. sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Oct. 23, 1980, lot 308A
Literature
P.A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, Paris, 1946, vol. II, no. 656bis (illustrated, p. 371)