Soon after meeting the Morisot family, Degas began working on a portrait of the eldest daughter, Yves, in the family’s Paris living room. These drawings show different stages of his preparatory process. The earliest shows the sitter facing out. In a second one, squared for transfer, she assumes the profile pose of the painting. A third study is devoted primarily to the setting.
Artwork Details
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Title:Study for “Madame Théodore Gobillard” (Yves Morisot)
Artist:Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date:1869
Medium:Graphite, squared, on buff tracing paper, mounted on laid paper
Dimensions:12 3/8 × 17 5/16 in. (31.5 × 44 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, David T. Schiff Gift, and Gifts in memory of Joseph Thomas, 1984
Object Number:1984.76
Signature: Black chalk, lower left corner: Degas
Madame Théodore Gobillard; Jeanne Gobillard; Claude Valéry (French); Vendor: Wildenstein & Co., Inc.
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris. "Exposition Degas, Galerie Georges Petit, 1924," April 12, 1924–May 2, 1924.
Musée de l'Orangerie. "Degas, portraitiste, sculpteur," 1931.
Gazette des Beaux-Arts. "Degas dans les collections françaises," 1955.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Drawings Recently Acquired, 1975-1984," November 27, 1984–February 10, 1985.
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Degas," February 9–May 16, 1988.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Degas," June 16–August 28, 1988.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Degas," September 27, 1988–January 8, 1989.
Melbourne. NGV International. "Degas: A New Vision," June 24–September 18, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Picturing Math: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints," January 31–May 1, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet / Degas," September 24, 2023–January 7, 2024.
MMA 1988. 88
Henri Rivière Les Dessins de Degas, reproduits en fac-simile. Première Série 1-50. vols. 1 and 2, Editions Demotte 1922-23; reprint 1973. Paris, 1922-23.
Paul-André Lemoisne Degas et son oeuvre. 4 vols + Suppl, Paris, 1946-1949.
Correspondance de Berthe Morisot avec sa famille et ses amis; Manet, Puvis de Chavannes, Degas, Monet, Renoir et Mallarmé. edited by Denis Rouart, Paris, 1950.
Charles Sterling, Margaretta M. Salinger French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 3 vols., New York, 1955-1967.
Daniel Wildenstein "Degas dans les collections françaises." in Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Paris, 1955.
Jean Sutherland Boggs Portraits by Degas. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1962.
Louise Burroughs "Degas Paints a Portrait." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 21, no. 5, New York, January 1963.
Degas's Drawings. Dover Books, Collections of Fine Art, New York, 1973.
Theodore Reff The Notebooks of Edgar Degas. vol. 1, Oxford, 1976.
Jacob Bean "Curatorial Reports and Departmental Accessions: Drawings." Annual Report of the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 1, 1983 - June 30, 1984. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 114, New York, 1984.
Jacob Bean Notable Acquisitions, 1983-1984: Drawings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1984.
Jean Sutherland Boggs, Douglas Druick, Henri Loyrette, Michael Pantazzi, Gary Tinterow Degas. Ex. cat.: Paris, Ottawa, MMA, 1988-1989. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, National Museums of Canada, New York and Ottawa, 1988-89.
Henri Loyrette, National Gallery of Victoria Degas: A New Vision. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2016.
Stephan Wolohojian, Ashley Dunn Manet/Degas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2023.
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