Femme assise s'essuyant le côté gauche

Details

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Femme assise s'essuyant le côté gauche
stamped with signature 'Degas' (Lugt 658), numbered and stamped with foundry mark '46/G' 'A.A. HEBRARD CIRE PERDUE' (on the top of the base)
bronze with brown patina
Height: 13¼ in. (34.5 cm.)
Length: 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm.)
Width: 9¼ in. (23.2 cm.)
Conceived in 1896-1911; this bronze version cast at a later date in an edition of twenty-two, numbered A to T plus two casts reserved for the Degas heirs and the founder Hébrard

Provenance

The Lefevre Gallery, London (1959 and 1966).
Charles Slatkin, New York.
Mrs. Regina Slatkin (by descent from the above).
James Goodman Gallery, Inc., New York.
Acquired from the above by the present owners, 1996.

Literature

J. Rewald, Degas Works in Sculpture, A Complete Catalogue, London, 1944, p. 28, no. LXIX (another cast illustrated, pl. 135; wax version illustrated, pl. 134).
J. Lassaigne and F. Minervino, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Degas, Paris, 1974, p. 144, no. S67 (another cast illustrated, p. 145).
C.W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, pl. 133 (another cast illustrated).
J. Rewald, Degas Works in Sculpture, San Francisco, 1990, p. 176, no. LXIX (another cast illustrated, pp. 176-177; another cast illustrated in color, p. 200).
S. Campbell, "A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes," Apollo, vol. CXLII, no. 402, August 1995, no. 46 (another cast illustrated, fig. 44, p. 33).

Exhibited

The Art Institute of Chicago, Graphic Modernism, Selections from the Francey and Dr. Martin L. Gecht Collection, November 2003-January 2004, p. 8, no. 8 (illustrated in color, p. 9)

Lot Essay

Of the seven sculptures that Degas modeled of bathers, Femme assise s'essuyant le côté gauche is the only one set in an imaginary outdoor context. The bather sits on the edge of a tree stump, leaning forward. The basic shape of the entire sculpture has been formed by this curved, bending movement, as the base merges into the tree, the tree into the bather's towel, and the towel into the body of the young woman. Jean Sutherland Boggs has observed in this pose "a great inner centrifugal force. The bather projects forward daringly into space with very little evident support--a courageous performance for the sculptor" (in Degas, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, p. 595). At the same time, the bather's torso and arms have been twisted to the left, an extreme stance that creates a ninety-degree angle in contrapposto to her lower body and legs, which are firmly planted on the ground, parallel to the length of the sculpture. "The twisting motion of the figure, the raised elbow, and the spread feet all help create a continuous flow of space around the sculpture" (C.W. Millard, op. cit., p. 109). Degas has rendered the ground and tree in rich textural detail, which contrasts with the smoother treatment he has accorded the figure. This subtle use of contrast and variety, all subsumed within a single overall gesture, bears witness to Degas's sculptural technique in its most dynamic, vital and assured manner. Degas repeated this pose in a second, more roughly modeled sculpture, in which the bather is seated in a curved-back chair, Femme assise s'essuyant la hanche gauche (Rewald, no. LXXI).

More from Impressionist and Modern Art (Day Sale)

View All