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Self-Portrait

1857
Not on view
Degas’s early study of printmaking led him to a close examination of Rembrandt’s etched portraits, including their shifts between more and less finished compositions. This exceptionally rare first state of the artist’s 1857 self-portrait has an evanescent quality, an effect that is reinforced by the complete lack of finish in the sitter’s hands and the drawing tools they hold, which are visible in later states.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Self-Portrait
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: 1857
  • Medium: Etching on wove paper; first state of four
  • Dimensions: Plate: 9 1/16 x 5 11/16 in. (23 x 14.4 cm)
    Sheet: 10 11/16 x 7 in. (27.2 x 17.8 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, 1972
  • Object Number: 1972.625
  • 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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