Degas sensitively conveyed the union of a musician with his instrument in this work. It represents an intermediary stage in the development of the violinist featured in "The Dance Lesson" (1971.185). Based on a more preliminary sketch, Degas worked up the composition in pastel and squared it for transfer. Curiously, he executed it on the back of a bookseller's advertisement; however, the green tone of the paper perfectly suited the use of pastel.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"
Artist:Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date:ca. 1878–79
Medium:Pastel and charcoal on green wove paper; squared for transfer in charcoal; letterpress printing on verso
Dimensions:15 3/8 x 11 3/4 in. (39.1 x 29.8 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1918
Object Number:19.51.1
Inscription: Verso, blue pencil, lower right corner: Ph 1017 / 2370
Marking: Stamped in red ink, lower left: mark of the Degas estate sale (Lugt 658); stamped in red ink on the verso, lower right, with the mark of the Degas atelier (Lugt 657); stamped in brown ink, lower center, with the mark of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
From the Atelier Degas(Lugt 657)Lugt 657 and 658; Sold at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris(Degas Sale II,1918,no. 171 for MMA Fr 4500)2eme vente Degas, Paris, Dec. 11-13, 1918, no. 171, repr.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Recent Accessions," 1919.
Grolier Club. "Prints, Drawings, and Bronzes: by Degas," January 26, 1922–February 28, 1922.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Degas in the Metropolitan," February 26–September 4, 1977.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Degas," September 27, 1988–January 8, 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," February 26–May 5, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Private Collection of Edgar Degas," October 1, 1997–January 11, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," April 25–July 24, 2005.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Degas à l'Opéra," September 24, 2019–January 19, 2020.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints: Materials and Techniques," April 29–July 26, 2021.
Lemoisne 451
Bryson Burroughs B[ryson]. B[urroughs]. "Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin" Drawings by Degas. 14, May 1919.
Bryson Burroughs "Drawings by Degas." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 14, no. 5, New York, May 1919, p. 115.
James Bolivar Manson The Life and Work of Edgar Degas. London, 1927, p. 48.
Paul-André Lemoisne Degas et son oeuvre. 4 vols + Suppl, Paris, 1946-1949, cat. no. 451, ill.
Paul-André Lemoisne P[aul]. A[ndré]. Lemoisne Degas et son œuvre. Galerie Brame P. Brame et C. M. de Hauke, [reprint 1984]. Paris, [1946–49].
Lillian Browse Degas Dancers. Studio Publications, New York, 1949, cat. no. 100.
Lillian Browse Degas Dancers. The Studio Publications, New York, [1949].
Douglas Cooper Pastels by Edgar Degas. Basel and New York, 1952–1953, cat. no. 11, fig. no. 11, p. 18, ill.
Douglas Cooper Pastels by Edgar Degas. Macmillan, New York, [1952?].
Peter Arms Wick "Degas' Violinist" Bulletin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. vol. 57, Boston, 1959, fig. no. 10, p. 100, ill.
Peter A. Wick "Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston" Degas' Violinist. 57, no. 310, 1959.
Agnes Mongan, Ira Moskowitz Great Drawings of All Times, vol. 3: French, thirteenth century to 1919. New York, 1962, cat. no. 784, ill.
Jean Sutherland Boggs, City Art Museum of Saint Louis Drawings by Degas. City Art Museum of Saint Louis, St. Louis, 1966.
Jean Sutherland Boggs Drawings by Degas. Exh. cat., City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Minneapolis Society of the Arts. 1967, p. 154.
Fiorella Minervino L'opera completa di Degas. Rizzoli, Milan, 1970.
Charles S. Moffett Degas in the Metropolitan. Ex. cat., February 26-September 4, 1977: a complete checklist of works by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1977, cat. no. 22, ill.
Charles S. Moffett Degas: Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979.
Ronald Pickvance, National Gallery of Scotland Degas 1879. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1979.
Philippe Brame, Theodore Reff Degas et son oeuvre: A Supplement. New York, 1984, cat. no. 99 (under), p. 108.
Philippe Brame, Theodore Reff Degas et son oeuvre: A Supplement. Garland, New York, 1984.
Götz Adriani, Kunsthalle Tübingen Degas: Pastels, Oil Sketches, Drawings. Abbeville Press, English ed. [German ed., 1984]. New York, 1985.
Horst Keller Edgar Degas. Munich, 1988, fig. no. 97, p. 129, ill.
Horst Keller Edgar Degas. Bruckmann, Munich, 1988.
Michael Pantazzi, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris Degas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988.
Jean Sutherland Boggs, Douglas Druick, Henri Loyrette, Michael Pantazzi, Gary Tinterow Degas. Ex. cat.: Paris, Ottawa, MMA, 1988-1989. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, National Museums of Canada, New York and Ottawa, 1988-89, cat. no. 217, p. 333, ill.
Sale catalogue.. Sotheby's, London, London, April 4, 1989, cat. no. 11.
Ann Dumas, Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein, Gary Tinterow The Private Collection of Edgar Degas. Ex. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997, fig. no. 371, pp. 271, 283, 28, ill.
Susan Alyson Stein, Edgar Degas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Private Collection of Edgar Degas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997.
Henri Loyrette Degas at the Opera. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Musée d'Orsay, Washington, DC, 2019, cat. no. 213, pp. 209, 311, ill.
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