Edgar Degas

Sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Atelier Edgar Degas, 1ere Vente, 6th, 7th & 8th May 1918, lot 264
Marseille Collection, Paris
Charles Vignier, Paris (sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 20th May 1931, lot 45)
Acquired by the late owner circa 1991

Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre. Peintures et pastels 1883-1908, Paris, 1946, no. 753, illustrated p. 427

This work is pastel and monotype on cream laid paper, not laid down, t-hinged to the mount in two places along the upper edge. All four edges are unevenly cut. Overall this work is in very good condition.
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What is immediately striking about Femme nue couchée is its stunning palette of pale pinks, blues and mauves as well as the richness of its surface, testament to the artist’s mastery of pastel as a medium. Degas was not the only modern artist to turn his attention to the theme of the reclining nude and the present work retains the same sense of voyeurism that characterises the ‘through the keyhole’ perspective of the artist’s bath-time bathers. We, as the viewer, are invited to join the artist in his position of voyeur to this thoroughly modern snapshot of a private moment.  For all of the indisputable technique virtuosity of the present work, Degas has lost none of the vibrancy and spontaneity of the composition: Femme nue couchée is at once spirited and subtle, ambitious and intimate. 

With his depictions of naturalistic poses, Degas was clearly reacting against the idealism of Salon nudes and the unnatural pomp that stemmed from their artificial poses.  The overarching aim that unifies all of Degas’s artistic production – irrespective of subject or medium – was his fascination and obsession with capturing movement. Indeed it was this quest to capture the body in movement that led to his celebrated voyeuristic viewpoints: he realised that if his subjects were unaware of his presence then he could be privy to a much wider variety of muscular stretches and contortions, the less self-conscious the gesture the better. It was the same with his depictions of dancers: the artist cared little for depicting the most obvious splendour of a pirouette, placing far greater importance and focus on the dancer stretching, yawning or adjusting her clothing. Degas was above all concerned with offering the viewer a more honest depiction of the realities of modern life, whether it be the loneliness of an absinthe drinker in a city bar, the fatigue of a dancer in training, or just the humble routine of drying oneself, sleeping or having one’s hair brushed. As far as Degas was concerned, the less glamorous the perspective the better, and the result was an extremely distinctive and decidedly modern artistic output, that continues to be of great inspiration to artists to this day. It comes as little surprise that Lucian Freud credits Degas as one of his major influences.

The accomplished and daring way that Degas learnt to manipulate pastel resulted in some remarkably rich and varied textures which preserve a real sense of the artist’s energetic handling and execution. The present work is an excellent example of this mastery of pastel and a veritable cocktail of hatch marks, shading, layering and scratching. The surface is very fully worked and in this sense the artist’s presence seems somehow closer and more vivid than in the more finished execution of his oil paintings.