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Auguste Degas

A work made of graphite, with touches of stumping, on buff laid paper with red and brown inclusions.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of graphite, with touches of stumping, on buff laid paper with red and brown inclusions.

Date:

c. 1859

Artist:

Edgar Degas
French, 1834–1917

About this artwork

Family portraits dominated Edgar Degas’s output in the 1850s. Before his departure for Italy in 1856 (and again, on his return in 1859), he depicted his brothers and sisters; during his time abroad he turned his attention to his grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Although Degas lived in the family house for the spring and summer of 1859, this is the only known formal portrait of his father from those early years. Stylistically, the work owes much to the restrained draftsmanship of Ingres, whom Degas met and admired in his student days. The use of shading, however, softens the facial features and lends a surprising sensuality.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas

Title

Auguste Degas

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1854–1864

Medium

Graphite, with touches of stumping, on buff laid paper with red and brown inclusions

Inscriptions

Inscribed verso, upper left, in graphite: "H" [?]; partially erased inscription, lower left, in graphite: "…gas…"

Dimensions

33.9 × 25.9 cm (13 3/8 × 10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Reference Number

2013.920

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/185849/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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