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Lot Essay
The precise dating of L'écolier is uncertain but three drawings that appear in a sketchbook Degas used in 1880-1884 appear to be closely related to it (Reff, Notebook 34, pp. 13, 17 and 19; coll. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). Because of the position of these drawings at the beginning of the notebook, it seems likely that Degas was at work on the sculpture circa 1880. This dating seems probable in light of other related works: an etching Ellen Andrée (Delteil, 20) and two pastels, Project de portraits en frise and Femme en robe violette (1879; Lemoisne, vol. 2, nos. 532 and 651). In each of these works there are subtle differences such as the shape of the hat, the length of the dress or the object being carried. Charles Millard notes that: "In the sculpture the book has been moved to the right hand and metamorphosed into an indefinite object resembling a package or portfolio, a change also to be seen in the notebook sketches. Except for the position of the feet, which is slightly more like that of The Little Dancer in the sculpted Schoolgirl than in the sketches, these drawings rehearse the wax figure exactly. That the piece was made during the time Degas was deeply involved in The Little Dancer is obvious from the tilt of the head, the expression of the face, the pigtail hanging down the back, and the hand concealed behind the waist. It may even be that the work on this clothed figure was a factor in suggesting the clothing of The Little Dancer, or that the piece was partly an experiment to gauge the effect of sculpted dress" (op. cit., pp. 14-15).
The present sculpture may have been the inspiration for Paul Gauguin's sculpture Petite Parisienne (Gray, no. 4) done in 1881, which is further evidence that Degas executed his sculpture circa 1880.
The present sculpture may have been the inspiration for Paul Gauguin's sculpture Petite Parisienne (Gray, no. 4) done in 1881, which is further evidence that Degas executed his sculpture circa 1880.