Edgar degas heights finance
Capital in the Nineteenth Century: Edgar Degas’s Portraits at the Stock Exchange in
In the spring of , the catalogue of the fourth Impressionist exhibit listed Portraits at the Stock Exchange among the twenty-five works grouped under the name Edgar Degas (fig. 1). When, if ever, the painting actually appeared in public that year remains, however, an open question. Gustave Caillebotte, for instance, reported that only eight of Degas’s works had been hung on April 10 when the galleries opened on the avenue de l’Opéra. Over the next month of the show almost none of the numerous critics reviewing the exhibition came to acknowledge the existence of the picture. The one exception was Louis Leroy who, in typical comic mode, noted in passing a “man’s hat, under which, after the most conscientious researches, I found it impossible to find a head.” Although Degas’s picture was also listed again in the catalogue for the next Impressionist exhibition, Leroy’s cryptic aside constitutes the entirety of its critical reception in the circumstances of its historical beholding.
Consequently, the standard reading of the painting’s tone and meaning have only emerged piecemeal over the last century or so. In her book, Odd Man Out: Readings in the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas, Carol Armstrong gives one of the most nuanced and attentive descriptions of the work. “This place of business is not cool and clean and open,” she writes, “rather, it is a murky, secret netherworld, as behind-the-wings and other-side-of-the-keyhole as Degas’s foyers, loges, and boudoirs, peopled with marginalized physiognomies as suspect as those of his dancers, demimondaines, and criminals: witness the two figures behind the pillar to the left, very similar to Degas’s Criminal Physiognomies.” These lurking, sinister figures do not quite present the readability of character implied by nineteenth-century physiognomy, but in their sketchy rendering and shadowed features they convey an indec
Edgar Degas
Description
- Edgar Degas
- Grande Arabesque, Deuxième Temps
Inscribed with the signature Degas, numbered 15/HER.D and stamped with the foundry mark A. A. Hébrard Cire Perdue
- Bronze, dark brown patina
- Height: 16 3/4 in.
- cm
Provenance
Heirs of the artist
The Count and Countess Guy du Boisrouvray (sold: Sotheby's, New York, October 27, , lot 83)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Literature
John Rewald, Degas,Works in Sculpture: A Complete Catalogue, New York, , p. 23, no. XXXVI, illustrations of another cast pp.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino, L'Opera completa di Degas, Milan, , no. S-6, illustration of another cast p.
John Rewald, Degas’s Complete Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné, San Francisco, , no. XXXVI, pp. , illustration of the wax and another cast pp.
Sara Campbell, “Degas’ Bronzes”, Apollo, London, August , no. 15, illustration of another cast p. 18
Joseph S. Czestochowski and Anne Pingeot, Degas Sculptures, Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, , no. 15, illustration of another cast p.
Catalogue Note
Degas constantly experimented with rendering the form of the dancer in various poses. By and large, the three-dimensional medium of sculpture offered him the most possibilities for capturing the grace and beauty of these figures and for exploring the seemingly boundless flexibility of their bodies. For the present work, the artist has rendered the dancer posing with her left leg extended backwards, almost parallel to the ground, and her right arm extending forwards, counterbalancing her weight. This position, known as an arabesque, is one of the most animated poses of the ballet, and was commonly depicted in Degas' paintings, drawings and pastels, in addition to several sculptural renderings. The present sculpture is the second of three related versions of this subject, and one of his most expressive figural compositions.
Jill De Vony Although approximately sculptures in varying states of repair were found in Degas's studio after his death in , only one sculpture had been exhibited during his lifetime, the Petite danseuse de quatorze ans. It was originally intended to be shown in the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition of and was in fact included in the catalogue as no. 34 – Petite danseuse de quatorze ans (statuette en cire) – but was not ready in time, and only the empty vitrine was sent. The following year, however, Degas was sufficiently satisfied with his figure to include it in the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition where it was listed as no. 12, although this time two weeks elapsed before the figure was placed in the empty glass case. The wax original that caused so much comment is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (fig. 5). Using an armature probably made of wire for the body and hemp for the arms and hands, Degas worked in modelling wax and then proceeded to dress the figure in clothing made of real fabrics – cream coloured grosgrain silk faille for the bodice, tulle and gauze for the tutu, fabric slippers and a satin ribbon tying the hair. A wig was supplied by one Madame Cusset, supplier of 'hair for puppets and dolls' (Reff, op. cit.), although this was subsequently covered with a thin layer of wax as were the slippers. To an audience that had been shocked by the realism of Rodin's L'Age d'Airan, Degas's immature figure was no less antipathetic. Paul Mantz (Le Temps, 23rd April ) was particularly outraged: 'The piece is finished and let us acknowledge right away that the result is nearly terrifying The unhappy child is standing, wearing a cheap gauze dress, a blue ribbon at the waist, her feet in supple shoes which make the first exercises of elementary choreography easier. She is working. Back arched and already a little tired, she stretches her arms around her. Formidable because she is thoughtless, with bestial effro A closer look at an artist widely regarded as the French Impressionist par excellence — despite rejecting the label — from his love of drawing to his private passion for sculpture, his fascination with dancers and horses to his experiments with photography Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas (–) was born in Paris, France, in He was the eldest of five children of Augustin De Gas, a wealthy banker, and Célestine Musson De Gas, a Creole woman from New Orleans, who died when Degas was Just days after having completed his schooling in , Degas registered as a copyist at the Louvre, where he made studies of Greek and Roman sculpture. Augustin appreciated his son’s artistic talent, but wanted him to become a lawyer. Degas duly enrolled in law school, but soon dropped out. In , Edgar Degas entered the famed École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He also attended drawing classes at the atelier of painter Louis Lamothe, a student of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. It is likely that through Lamothe Degas met Ingres in As a student, Degas frequently enlisted his immediate family as subjects. His drawings of family members, which reflect Ingres’ deep influence, helped Degas explore the placement of figures against the dark ground frequently seen in his early oils. Throughout the s, his sister Thérèse was one of his favoured models. He also painted many portraits of his brother René. This became a key component of his early practice. Degas made numerous copies of works by Michelangelo, Raphael and other Renaissance artists, but — contrary to convention — he usually concentrated on a detail, a secondary figure, or a head, so as to focus on the psychological aspects of human e Edgar Degas
10 things to know about Edgar Degas
His father wanted him to become a lawyer
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a formative influence
His teachers encouraged him to copy the Old Masters at the Louvre