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Self-Portrait

Sitter Edgar Degas French
by 1857
Not on view
Degas portrayed his aloof, slightly pouty, patrician features a number of times in the course of his career, particularly as a young man. This early example, executed when the artist was little more than twenty-years old, served as the model for a self-portrait etching he made in 1857, which reproduces the image in reverse. Both the pose and expression seen here relate closely to two nearly contemporaneous painted self-portraits by Degas. The shadowy contrast of light and dark may reflect his interest, at this particular moment of his career, in the work of Rembrandt.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Self-Portrait
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Sitter: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: by 1857
  • Medium: Black chalk and graphite, heightened with white on heavy beige wove paper
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 11 3/4 x 9 1/8 in. (29.8 x 23.1cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
  • Object Number: 1972.118.207
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Huit Sonnets. . .Illustré de dix-nuef dessins inédits de Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Wittenborn and Co., La Jeune Parque
1946
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl, Edgar Degas French, Aquatint, drypoint, and etching; printed from canceled plate
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl
Edgar Degas
ca. 1879
At the Café des Ambassadeurs, Edgar Degas French, Etching, softground, drypoint, and aquatint; fifth (final) state; canceled plate
At the Café des Ambassadeurs
Edgar Degas
1879–80
Greek Landscape, Edgar Degas French, Etching (only state; impression from cancelled plate)
Greek Landscape
Edgar Degas
1856
On Stage III, Edgar Degas French, Softground etching,drypoint, and roulette on wove paper; fourth state of five
On Stage III
Edgar Degas
1876–77

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