Lot Essay
The present work is a bronze cast of a mixed-media sculpture which Degas executed circa 1886, now housed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. It has justifiably been described as "among the most original not only of his own pieces but of all nineteenth-century sculpture" (C. W. Millard, op. cit., p. 107-8).
Degas's fascination with the female bather parallels his interest in ballet dancers and horse races, and ranks as one of the most celebrated themes in his oeuvre. In the early 1880s Degas began an intense study of woman at their toilette, in such situations as getting in and out of their bath, drying themselves or brushing their hair, as can be seen in his celebrated pastels of circa 1884 to 1886 (including Lemoisne nos. 766 and 876, figs. 1 and 2). It is interesting to note that although Degas executed numerous sculptures of subjects such as dancers and horses, Le Tub is unique in his sculptural oeuvre in depicting a woman in her bath.
The naturalness of the pose in the present work and intimacy of the subject reflect what Degas once told a visitor "until now, the nude has always been presented in poses which assume the presence of an audience, but these women of mine are decent, simple human beings who have no other concern than that of their physical condition...it is as though one were watching through a keyhole." (see G. Adriani, Degas Pastels, Oil Sketches, Drawings, London, 1985, p. 86).
"Degas made what seems to have been a concentrated attempt...to establish himself as the renovator of a traditional subject, the creator of a truly modern nude in the face of clichéd eclecticism in the Salon and lack of initiative among the independent Naturalists" (R. Thomson, Degas, The Nudes, London, 1988, p. 134).
Degas most probably conceived Le Tub in his studio in the rue Victor Massé, Paris, where he occupied three floors of a town house and where according to John Rewald he modelled most of his sculptures: "Degas had an apartment on the third floor, where he slept, whereas the floor above was given over to his collection... The fifth floor was his studio. It was spacious but dark... only a dim light filtered in, reaching with difficulty to the end of the room. Everywhere this weak light was intercepted by cupboards, numerous easels entangled with each other, sculptor's stands, tables, armchairs, stools, several screens, and even a bathtub which Degas used for his Baigneuses....Degas had only a small space in the front of the studio, just below the window, in which to work. It was there, between the model stand surrounded by a screen, between the sculptor's easel and a stove, that he spent his mornings. He engaged his models four or five times a week, sometimes twice a day, and often continued to work after their departure." (J. Rewald, op. cit., pp. 25-6).
On his death in 1917, approximately 150 wax sculptures were found in Degas's studio, in various states of repair. His heirs drew up a contract with the Hébrard foundry in Paris authorizing seventy-four of the figures, including the Washington Le Tub, to be cast in bronze, each in an edition of twenty-two. One complete set was reserved for the artist's heirs, marked HER, another for the founder, marked HER.D (see lot 17) and the remaining twenty sets were numbered from A to T. The present work bears the inscription '26/E', where the '26' refers to the subject's number in the inventory made of the wax models.
"Most innovative of all, Le Tub is one of the few pieces of nineteenth-century sculpture - perhaps, indeed the only piece - intended to be seen from directly above... At one stroke, Degas eliminated the problem of the base by simply identifying the base and ground, making the ground serve as background to the sculpture. By compressing the body into a circular shape and bringing the limbs into as close proximity as is physically possible, he also created an elaborate and masterful interpretation of solid and void. Further, by not using a standing figure, he was able to suppress the planes so dear to academic relief-conceived sculpture" (C. W. Millard, ibid).
This particular cast of Le Tub reveals the technical brilliance of the maitre d'atelier of the Hébrard foundry, Albino Palazolo, who cast it between 1919 and 1921. The delicacy of detail and the polychromatic patina, from the light brown base to the darker tones of the tub and nude, reveal an outstanding virtuosity in the cire-perdue technique.
Other casts of Le Tub are housed in several major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (A), the Musée d'Orsay (P), the National Gallery of Scotland (K) and the Art Institute of Chicago (HER.D).
Degas's fascination with the female bather parallels his interest in ballet dancers and horse races, and ranks as one of the most celebrated themes in his oeuvre. In the early 1880s Degas began an intense study of woman at their toilette, in such situations as getting in and out of their bath, drying themselves or brushing their hair, as can be seen in his celebrated pastels of circa 1884 to 1886 (including Lemoisne nos. 766 and 876, figs. 1 and 2). It is interesting to note that although Degas executed numerous sculptures of subjects such as dancers and horses, Le Tub is unique in his sculptural oeuvre in depicting a woman in her bath.
The naturalness of the pose in the present work and intimacy of the subject reflect what Degas once told a visitor "until now, the nude has always been presented in poses which assume the presence of an audience, but these women of mine are decent, simple human beings who have no other concern than that of their physical condition...it is as though one were watching through a keyhole." (see G. Adriani, Degas Pastels, Oil Sketches, Drawings, London, 1985, p. 86).
"Degas made what seems to have been a concentrated attempt...to establish himself as the renovator of a traditional subject, the creator of a truly modern nude in the face of clichéd eclecticism in the Salon and lack of initiative among the independent Naturalists" (R. Thomson, Degas, The Nudes, London, 1988, p. 134).
Degas most probably conceived Le Tub in his studio in the rue Victor Massé, Paris, where he occupied three floors of a town house and where according to John Rewald he modelled most of his sculptures: "Degas had an apartment on the third floor, where he slept, whereas the floor above was given over to his collection... The fifth floor was his studio. It was spacious but dark... only a dim light filtered in, reaching with difficulty to the end of the room. Everywhere this weak light was intercepted by cupboards, numerous easels entangled with each other, sculptor's stands, tables, armchairs, stools, several screens, and even a bathtub which Degas used for his Baigneuses....Degas had only a small space in the front of the studio, just below the window, in which to work. It was there, between the model stand surrounded by a screen, between the sculptor's easel and a stove, that he spent his mornings. He engaged his models four or five times a week, sometimes twice a day, and often continued to work after their departure." (J. Rewald, op. cit., pp. 25-6).
On his death in 1917, approximately 150 wax sculptures were found in Degas's studio, in various states of repair. His heirs drew up a contract with the Hébrard foundry in Paris authorizing seventy-four of the figures, including the Washington Le Tub, to be cast in bronze, each in an edition of twenty-two. One complete set was reserved for the artist's heirs, marked HER, another for the founder, marked HER.D (see lot 17) and the remaining twenty sets were numbered from A to T. The present work bears the inscription '26/E', where the '26' refers to the subject's number in the inventory made of the wax models.
"Most innovative of all, Le Tub is one of the few pieces of nineteenth-century sculpture - perhaps, indeed the only piece - intended to be seen from directly above... At one stroke, Degas eliminated the problem of the base by simply identifying the base and ground, making the ground serve as background to the sculpture. By compressing the body into a circular shape and bringing the limbs into as close proximity as is physically possible, he also created an elaborate and masterful interpretation of solid and void. Further, by not using a standing figure, he was able to suppress the planes so dear to academic relief-conceived sculpture" (C. W. Millard, ibid).
This particular cast of Le Tub reveals the technical brilliance of the maitre d'atelier of the Hébrard foundry, Albino Palazolo, who cast it between 1919 and 1921. The delicacy of detail and the polychromatic patina, from the light brown base to the darker tones of the tub and nude, reveal an outstanding virtuosity in the cire-perdue technique.
Other casts of Le Tub are housed in several major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (A), the Musée d'Orsay (P), the National Gallery of Scotland (K) and the Art Institute of Chicago (HER.D).