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Lot Essay
La collection d'Edgar Degas semblait ne pas contenir d'oeuvres de Francisco de Goya. D'ailleurs, aucun mention dans ce sens n'apparaît dans l'inventaire de ses biens effectué en 1917, et ni ses lettres ni ses carnets ne font allusion à Goya. Notre série des Désastres de la Guerre ne contient pas non plus de preuve d'appartenance à Degas: les titres annotés, ainsi que leur traduction française glissée entre chaque feuillet, ne sont pas de sa main. Il est néanmoins possible que Degas ait acquis cet album peu après sa publication en 1863, peut-être pour des raisons liées à sa vie personnelle alors touchée par la guerre civile aux Etats-Unis durant laquelle sa famille de la Nouvelle Orléans fut victime. Nous pouvons aussi penser que cet album lui était utile à l'élaboration d'un important tableau sur lequel il travaillait en 1863-65, Scène de guerre au Moyen Age (Lemoisne 124).
Degas's collection contained no works by Goya; nor do the inventories of his possessions in 1917 mention any. His letters and notebooks are also silent about this artist. And there is no evidence in this copy of the Desastres that Degas owned it: the written captions of the plates are not in his hand, nor are the French translations of the captions on slips of paper inserted before each plate. But if he did acquire it soon after its publication in 1863, it may have been for its relevance to events in his life at that time -- the American Civil War, some of whose victims were his New Orleans relatives -- and the major historical painting on which he worked in 1863-65, the Scène de guerre au Moyen Age (Lemoisne 124).
Degas's collection contained no works by Goya; nor do the inventories of his possessions in 1917 mention any. His letters and notebooks are also silent about this artist. And there is no evidence in this copy of the Desastres that Degas owned it: the written captions of the plates are not in his hand, nor are the French translations of the captions on slips of paper inserted before each plate. But if he did acquire it soon after its publication in 1863, it may have been for its relevance to events in his life at that time -- the American Civil War, some of whose victims were his New Orleans relatives -- and the major historical painting on which he worked in 1863-65, the Scène de guerre au Moyen Age (Lemoisne 124).