Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Details

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Le sortie du bain (Femme s'essuyant)

signed bottom right 'Degas'-- pastel over monotype on paper
17¼ x 9½in. (44 x 24cm.)

Drawn circa 1885

Provenance

Tadamasa Hayashi, New York; sale, American Art Galleries, New York, Jan. 8-9, 1913, lot 66 (illustrated; titled Femme d'éshabillée) Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris
M. Pridonoff, Paris; sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 27, 1932, lot 6
M. Schoeller, Paris
Mme Gillou, Paris; sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, March 24, 1952, lot 6 (illustrated)
Anon. sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 24, 1988, lot 10
Anon. sale, Habsburg Feldman, New York, Nov. 12, 1989, lot 11 (acquired by the present owner)

Literature

P. A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, Paris, 1946, vol. III,
no. 836 (illustrated, p. 485)
E. P. Janis, "The Role of the Monotype in the Working Method of Degas," Burlington Magazine, vol. LIX, part II, Feb., 1967, p. 26, fig. 45 (illustrated, p. 78)
G. Tinterow, "The 1880s: Synthesis and Change", Degas, New York, 1988 (Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalogue), p. 414 (illustrated, fig. 225)

Exhibited

Boston, Fogg Art Museum, Degas Monotypes, April-June, 1968, no. 128 (illustrated)

Lot Essay

This pastel was drawn over the second impression of the monotype Femme s'essuyant les pieds près d'une baignoire, 1880-1885 (Adhémar and Cachin no. 158, coll. Musée du Louvre, Paris, Isaac de Camondo Bequest). Degas has altered the stance of the bather; she is now seen slightly more from the side, emphasizing her bent legs. The artist has also repositioned the edge of the tub. He has retained the drapery and wall seen in shadow on the right side of the original monotype, while adding a picture at the upper right which reinforces the sense of perspective in the composition.