The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 26, 2024

Sheet of Studies and Sketches

Sheet of Studies and Sketches

1858
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The date Degas wrote on this drawing is incorrect; he didn't visit Florence until 1858, and must have inscribed the sheet years later.

Description

Degas traveled to Florence, Italy, in July 1858, where he made this sheet of studies. The featured imagery is fragmented and dissociated, suggesting the young artist's engagement with art of the past. The refined female head drawn at center in graphite was copied from a drawing then attributed to Leonardo da Vinci in the Uffizi Gallery's collection. Other sketches record Degas's responses to Florentine sculpture. At upper right, he sketched an informal portrait of his cousin Giulia Bellelli, probably from life.
  • 1858 - 1917
    Studio of the artist
    1917-1919
    Estate of Edgar Degas [1834-1917], Paris
    1919
    (his fourth sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, July 2-4, 1919, no. 74b, sold to Nunès)
    1919-?
    (Galerie Nunès et Fiquet, Paris)
    after 1919-by 1931
    Private collection
    by 1950-1951
    (Victor D. Spark, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1951-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Catalogue des tableaux, pastels et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1919. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 70, no. 74b
    George, Waldemar. "The Youth of Degas." Formes 15 (May 1931). Reproduced: after p. 76
    Graber, Hans. Edgar Degas: Nach eigenen und fremden Zeugnissen. Basel: Benno Schwabe, 1942. Mentioned: p. 246, Reproduced: opp. p. 20.
    Henry S. Francis. "Drawings by Degas." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 44 (December 1957). Mentioned: p. 213; Reproduced: p. 210
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 601 archive.org
    Vitali, Lamberto. “Three Italian Friends of Degas.” Burlington Magazine 105, no. 723 (June 1963): 266-73. Mentioned: pp. 266 n. 4, 269 n. 6
    Reymert, Martin L. H. and Gary Koehler. Ingres & Delacroix through Degas & Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800–1870. Exh. cat. New York: Shepherd Gallery, 1975. Mentioned and reproduced: cover, pp. 317-18, no. 134
    Russoli, Franco. L’Opera completa di Degas. Milan: Rizzoli, 1978. Reproduced: pp. 86-87, no. 17
    Thomson, Richard. The Private Degas. Exh. cat. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1987. Mentioned: pp. 15-17, 51, 138, no. 10; Reproduced: plate 65.
    DeGrazia, Diane and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: p. 8, pp. 132-33, p. 290; Reproduced: p. 133
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 16
    Reff, Theodore. The Letters of Edgar Degas. New York: Wildenstein Plattner, 2020. Mentioned: vol. 1, p. 114 n. 3.
    Salsbury, Britany. “Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: The widely recognized collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 62, no. 4 (December 2022): Cover, 18-19. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 18.
    Salsbury, Britany. Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 2, fig. 2
  • Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).
    Degas: A Passion for Perfection. Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (organizer) (February 11-May 20, 2018).
    Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995).
    Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).
    The Private Degas. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 20-February 28, 1987); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge CB2 1RB (March 17-May 3, 1987).
    The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983).
    Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983).
    Ingres & Delacroix through Degas & Puvis de Chavannes: The Figure in French Art, 1800–1870. Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (May 20-June 28, 1975).
    French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966).
    19th and 20th Century Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 19-March 24, 1965).
    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).
    Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
  • {{cite web|title=Sheet of Studies and Sketches|url=false|author=Edgar Degas|year=1858|access-date=26 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1951.430