Edgar Degas

Tadamasa Hayashi, New York (sold: American Art Galleries, New York, January 8-9, 1913, lot 66)

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris

M. Pridonoff, Paris (sold: Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, May 27, 1932, lot 6)

M. Schoeller, Paris

Mme Gillou, Paris (sold: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, march 24, 1932, lot 6)

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 24, 1988, lot 10

Sale: Habsburg Feldman, New York, November 12, 1989, lot 11

Private Collection (acquired at the above sale and sold: Christie's, New York, November 8, 1995, lot 144)

Acquired at the above sale

Boston, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Degas Monotypes, 1968, no. 128, illustrated in the catalogue

P. A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. III, Paris, 1946, no. 836, illustrated p. 485

E. P. Janis, "The Role of the Monotype in the Working mEthod of Degas," Burlington Magazine, London, February 1967, fig. 45, illustrated p. 78

Gary Tinterow, "The 1880s: Synthesis and Change," Degas (exhibition catalogue), New York, 1988, fig. 225, illustrated p. 414

 

Executed on laid paper, not laid down. Hinged in from the top onto a mount that covers the edges of the sheet. Some typical, light staining overall. Some remains of glue in the margin outside the work at the foot edge, and some pigment loss at lower right at the edge. This work is overall 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Degas' experimentation with monotypes was unrivaled by his contemporaries. In this beautifully rendered work from the mid-1880s, he has taken the second, or ghost, impression from a plate or sheet originally prepared with ink, and enhanced the resulting image with pastel.  The first impression of that same prepared surface produced the monotype Femme s'essuyant les pieds près d'une baignoire, currently in the collection of the Louvre.  In this second version, Degas has changed the stance of the bather and repositioned the edge of bathtub.  In the upper-right corner he has heightened with pastel to enhance the composition's spatial perspective.   Because second-impressions are more transparent than first impression monotypes, Degas had much more liberty to alter and embellish the present work with his pastel than he did for the work that is in the Louvre.