Self-Portrait
Edgar Degas French
Sitter Edgar Degas French
Not on view
The French engraver Joseph Gabriel Tourny encouraged Degas’s early experiments in etching in Italy in 1857 and cultivated his appreciation for the work of the seventeenth-century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn. In his interpretation of Rembrandt’s portrait of a young man, Degas paid close attention to the specificity of the etched line for instruction in the technique. He took a cue from Rembrandt in leaving extra ink on the surface of the plate to create a unique impression. Degas also followed the Dutch artist’s model in turning frequently to his own image as a motif for scrutiny and variation.
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