Since Degas’s surviving sculptures represent only a portion of his entire production, and since none are dated, it is difficult to establish a chronology. Those that still exist depict Degas’s favorite subjects. With the exception of a few sculpted heads, these include horses, dancers, and women—bathing or dressing—all caught in a fleeting moment. It has been suggested that, while Degas appears to have engaged adolescent models to pose for his earlier works, the later sculptures depict more mature and less slender sitters. In accordance with the artist’s expressive and summary late painting style, the surface here is rough and coarse. The face is indicated by a few flat planes, and the missing left foot either broke off from the wax model or perhaps never existed at all.
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Title:Woman Putting on a Stocking
Artist:Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date:1895–1910
Medium:Bronze
Edition:6/22
Dimensions:16 3/4 x 11 1/4 x 5 3/4 in. (42.5 x 28.6 x 14.6 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998
Accession Number:1999.363.17
Marking: Stamped (on base): Cire / Perdue / A. A. Hébrard; incised: 70/F
A. A. Hébrard, Paris; [Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, until 1945; sold on March 1, 1945 to M. Munkacsi, probably as agent for Gelman]; Jacques and Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1945–his d. 1986); Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1986–d. 1998; her bequest to MMA)
New York. Buchholz Gallery, Curt Valentin. "Edgar Degas: Bronzes, Drawings, Pastels," January 3–27, 1945, no. 41.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," December 12, 1989–April 1, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 59).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," April 19–July 15, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "De Matisse à Picasso: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman," June 18–November 1, 1994, unnumbered cat. (p. 83).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Small Bronzes," September 5, 2003–March 14, 2004, no catalogue.
Exposition des Sculptures de Degas. Exh. cat., Galerie A.-A. Hébrard. Paris, 1921, unpaginated, no. 13 (unknown edition), calls it "Danseuse mettant son bas (Deuxième état)".
Paul Vitry in Musée National du Louvre. Catalogue des sculptures du Moyen age, de la Renaissance et des Temps modernes. Vol. 3, Supplément. Paris, 1933, p. 67, no. 1730 (not this edition), calls it "'Danseuse mettant son bas'—Deuxième étude".
John Rewald, ed. Degas: Works in Sculpture. A Complete Catalogue. New York, 1944, p. 27, no. LVIII, ill. p. 123, calls it "Dancer Putting on Her Stocking".
Pierre Borel. Les Sculptures inédites de Degas. Geneva, 1949, ill. n.p. (wax version), calls it "Danseuse mettant son bas".
John Rewald. Degas Sculpture. New York, 1956, pp. 24, 154, no. LVIII, pl. 73.
Fiorella Minervino inL'opera completa di Degas. Milan, 1970, p. 140, no. S 13, ill. p. 141.
Charles W. Millard. The Sculpture of Edgar Degas. Princeton, 1976, p. 35 n. 49, calls it "Dancer Putting on Her Stocking".
Gerhard Leistner inAlfred Flechtheim: Sammler. Kunsthändler. Verleger. Ed. Stephan von Wiese and Monika Flacke-Knoch. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf, 1987, p. 131.
Pierre Schneider inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, p. 25.
Sabine Rewald inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 57–59, 298, ill. (color and bw).
John Rewald. Degas's Complete Sculpture: Catalogue Raisonné. New rev. edition (1st ed., 1944). San Francisco, 1990, pp. 37, 150, 152, 154, 188–89, 203, no. LVIII, ill. p. 155 (not this edition, collection Norton Simon Art Foundation), calls it "Dancer Putting on Her Stocking".
Anne Pingeot. Degas Sculptures. [Paris], 1991, pp. 158, 196, no. 13, ill., calls it "Danseuse mettant son bas, deuxième étude".
Joseph Czestochowski and Anne Pingeot. Degas Sculptures: Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes. Memphis, 2002, pp. 258–59, 271, no. 70, ill. (color), call it "Dancer Putting on Her Stocking".
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