Cheval franchissant un obstacle

Details

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Cheval franchissant un obstacle
signed 'Degas' (on the base), numbered and stamped with the foundry mark '48/H CIRE PERDUE A.A. HEBRARD' (on the base)
bronze with dark brown patina
12in. (30cm.) high
Conceived before 1917 and cast between 1919 and 1932 in a numbered edition of 22 (see note below).

Provenance

M. Knoedler & Co., New York, from whom purchased by the previous owner in 1962.

Literature

G. Janneau, 'Les Sculptures de Degas', La Renaissnace de l'Art Français, no. IV:7, July 1921 (another cast illustrated p. 355).
Musée National du Louvre, Catalogue des Sculptures du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des Temps Modernes, Paris, 1933, no. 1760 (another cast illustrated p. 70).
J. Rewald, Degas, Works in Sculpture: A Complete Catalogue, New York, 1944, no. IX.
J. Rewald, 'Degas Dancers and Horses', Art News, vol. XLIII, 11 Sept. 1944 (another cast illustrated p. 22).
Musée National du Louvre, Catalogue des Peintures et Sculptures Exposées au Musée de l'Impressionisme Jeu de Paume des Tuileries, les Impressionistes, leurs Précurseurs et leurs Contemporains, Paris, 1947, no. 298 (another cast illustrated p. 133).
J. Rewald, Degas Sculpture, London, 1957, no.IX, p. 142 (another cast illustrated pl.s 10-11 and fig. 4, p.143).
F. Russoli and F. Minervino, L'Opera Completa di Degas, Milan, 1970, no. S43 (another cast illustrated p. 143).
A. Terrasse, Edgar Degas, Milan, 1971, no. 2 (another cast illustrated p. 54).
C. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, pl. 66 (original wax model illustrated).
S. Campbell, 'Degas, the Sculptures, a Catalogue Raisonné', Apollo, August 1995, no. 48 (another cast illustrated p.34).

Lot Essay

On his death in 1917, approximately 150 wax sculptures were found in Degas' studio. His heirs drew up a contract with the Hébrard foundry in Paris authorizing seventy-four figures, including Cheval franchissant un obstacle, 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 and the remaining twenty sets were numbered from A to T. The present work bears the inscription '48H' where the '48' refers to the subject's number in the inventory made of the wax models.

"Cheval franchissant un obstacle is the most spatially sophisticated of all Degas'horses. Related to a pose seen in Muybridge's photographs, it combines forward, backward, rising, and twisting motions in the closest approximation of a centripetal spiralling movement possible with a four-legged animal. The turning of the head, the spreading of the rear legs, and the fact that from the side one sees both forelegs (they are not parallel) all discourage a planar reading of the piece by de-emphasizing its profile. The fact that the horse rises on its hind legs has allowed Degas to bring the front and the hind legs into greater proximity than in any other of his horses, thereby permitting him to make infinitely finer adjustments of the sculptural spaces. (Charles W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, p. 100)

More from Impressionist & Modern Paintings,Watercolours & Sculpture II

View All