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Youth in an Attitude of Defense

1859–60
Not on view
This energetic study of a male nude (as well as another drawing by the artist in the Lehman Collection, 1975.1.609) relate to Degas' Young Spartans Exercising (National Gallery, London), a painting he produced around 1860 and which preoccupied him for several years. Investigating light and contour in the clearly delineated figures, Degas poses his subjects as trials for transfer to canvas.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Youth in an Attitude of Defense
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: 1859–60
  • Medium: Pencil on buff laid paper
  • Dimensions: 12 15/16 × 8 1/4 in. (32.8 × 21 cm)
    Framed: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.610
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Dance Class, Edgar Degas French, Oil on canvas
The Dance Class
Edgar Degas
1874
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Sketch of the Monastery of St. George Chalkis, Franz von Hauslab the Younger Austrian, Pencil on tracing paper mounted on laid paper.
Sketch of the Monastery of St. George Chalkis
Franz von Hauslab the Younger
19th century
Woman Having Her Hair Combed, Edgar Degas French, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
Woman Having Her Hair Combed
Edgar Degas
ca. 1886–88
Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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