Edgar Degas

Sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Atelier Edgar Degas, 2ème vente, 11th-13th December 1918, lot 251
Hodier, Paris
André & Olga Wormser, Paris
Thence by descent to the present owner

Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre, vol. III, Paris, 1946, no. 835, illustrated p. 483
Connaissance des Arts, May 1961

Executed on buff laid paper, not laid down, affixed to the backing board along the upper, right and lower edges. The upper edge is deckled. There are two pinholes to the lower right corner. The sheet is light stained. Two small losses along the right edge. The lower part of the right edge and the lower edge are a bit scuffed. There are a few flattened creases to the left part of the upper edge. There are very faint spots of foxing in places. The medium is rich. This work is in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This work is a study for Chez la modiste, circa 1882-1886, oil on canvas, 99 x 109 cm, displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Throughout his career, Degas often returned to the theme of the milliner in his paintings, pastels and drawings. As wrote the art critic Edmond Duranty, who frequented the Café Guerbois aux Batignolles where Degas, Renoir and Pissarro among others met during the 1860s, “what we need is the special mark of the modern individual, in his clothes, in the middle of his social habits, at his home or in the street. “ (Edmond Duranty, La nouvelle Peinture, 1876).

Degas thus captured “modern life” through this theme and the new jobs available to women in the bustle of the Parisian boulevards, boutiques and department stores.

Degas often accompanied his women friends, in particular Marie Cassatt, to the milliner’s where the deployment of coloured hats and dresses, squeezed into intimate interiors, offered the possibility of new compositions. In Chez la modiste (At the Milliner’s) the painter applies his new approach to composition, with cut planes, the same he employed for representing dancers and the backstage of the Opera. The pastel medium perfectly reveals here the ephemeral aspect of the fabrics presented by the milliner. This original work has not appeared at auction since the second Degas sale in December 1918.