Edgar Degas

Estate of the artist (and sold: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Atelier Edgar Degas, quatrième vente, December 11-13, 1918, lot 26c)
Marcel Guérin, Paris
Sale: Ader, Picard, Tajan, October 29, 1975, lot 40

Bern, Berner Kunstmuseum, Degas, 1951-1952, no. 14

P-A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. II, Paris, 1946, no. 236, illustrated p. 117

Executed on buff colored wove paper. Sheet is affixed around perimeter on verso to a backing sheet which is mounted on board. The sheet is slightly undulated. There are scattered losses and remnants of paper and glue around the extreme perimeter which suggest that the sheet itself was previously glued to a window mat. These are predominantely outside of the image area. There is one small surface scuff in the sky at center right. Overall the 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.
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.

Landscapes are rare in Degas' oeuvre, yet they remain among his most innovative and compelling works. Degas created his first important group of landscapes in 1869, during a trip to the Normandy coast around Cabourg and Villers-sur-Mer. Plage à marée basse dates from this period, and as Richard Kendall notes in his seminal monograph: "Perhaps the most striking, as well as the most frequently misrepresented, evidence of Degas' atunement to the work of his contemporaries is the series of more than forty landscape pastels made in the autumn of 1869. Never exhibited as a group and still generally unknown, these pastels can be counted among the seminal achievements of his pre-Impressionist years." (Richard Kendall, Degas Landscapes, New Haven & London, 1993, pp. 86).

Degas' innovations lie both with the compositions and the techniques employed, since "nowhere do we find the familiar conceits and trickery of the conventional landscape painter: trees do not frame our field of view, nor do pathways and avenues indicate recession; beetling cliffs and ominous ruins are not in evidence, and industrious mariners offer no uplifting narrative. The image might almost be defined by such absences, were it not for the spaces that are opened up and the expressive potential generated. In this understated world, simple oppositions of colours evoke weather and light, atmosphere and gravity" (Ibid, p. 87).

Pastel, which would later become the defining aspect of his technique, is used prodigiously by Degas. As Richard Kendall writes: "Now, he could use the medium of pastel, combining the effects of colour, line and tone in a single process that almost kept pace with his perceptions. With pastel, he could scatter powdery hues across the paper to indicate coffee-coloured sand or silvery-green sea, and touch in the fine detail of a roof-top or ship's sail. With pastel, too, he could respond to the finest nuances of the atmosphere, working rapidly as weather and wind began to change. Here, it is notable that almost all the seascapes and beach scenes are depicted under cloudy, overcast skies. None of them, however, is generalised, and each proposes a subtle variation on the theme of sea mist, sun-lit haze or impending rain." (Ibid, p. 99)