EDGAR DEGAS | Paysage

Durand-Ruel, Paris
McVeigh Collection (and sold: Parke-Bernet, New York, April 15, 1959, lot 36)
M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York (acquired at the above sale)
The Duke & Duchess of Windsor, England (and sold: Sotheby’s, New York, February 19-27, 1998, lot 858)
Acquired at the above sale

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, Paysages de Degas, 1892, n.n.

Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. III, Paris, 1946, no. 1036, illustrated p. 609
Eugenia Parry Janis, Degas Monotypes: Essay, Catalogue and Checklist (exhibition catalogue), Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1968, no. 274, illustrated n.p.
Richard Kendall, Degas Landscapes, New Haven & London, 1993, fig. 167, illustrated in color p. 189

The work is in very good condition. Executed on cream wove paper. The sheet is mounted to a backing board along the perimeter of its verso. A few extremely minor spots of foxing.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present work was featured in Degas’ sensational exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1892—not only his first and only solo show, but an exhibition that would prove to be a breakthrough for the brand new process of color printmaking. Perhaps most surprising of all was the subject matter Degas chose to exhibit: landscapes, a pivot away from a reputation built on depictions of ballerinas, laundresses and nudes. In part because Degas publicized himself as the premier painter of the human figure, his production of landscapes has been largely overlooked.  

In fact Degas produced landscapes throughout his career in a variety of media: "It was in the decade of the 1890s, however, that Degas’ diverse encounters with the landscape bore the most spectacular fruit” (Richard Kendall, op. cit., p. viii). While Degas described the vistas he portrayed as purely imaginary, Paysage was part of a suite of color monotypes begun in the Burgundy region in 1890 after a twenty-day carriage trip through the countryside with the artist’s companion, the recently widowed artist Paul-Albert Bartholomé.

Speaking specifically about the present work, Richard Kendall explains that “The crisply applied forms of the monotype have been allowed to remain visible within the final composition, resembling brush-marks or sweeps of liquid colour. Where pastel has been applied, it reinforces or enhances a printed landscape feature, rather than attempting to change or conceal it. This is particularly evident in Landscape, where the contours of the original image have been faithfully followed its towns subtly extended by the pastel strokes" (quoted in ibid., p. 190).

This series of works speaks to the immense influence of Japanese prints on Degas (see fig. 1). Verging on abstraction, the present work is a harbinger of the Color Field painters which would emerge in the United States following World War II.