Edgar degas pastel drawings

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Degas would have to consider his application of pastel when adding over charcoal as a particularly strong use of it would completely cover any original detail.

When surveying the full output of Degas pastels we are able to see changes across his career in both the style that he used and also the content that he depicted. In some, he plays with a dominant color, with green in his Large Dancers, with blue in his Two Dancers at Rest and with pink in his Dancers from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Woman with a Towel

Degas used his fingers, brushes, and sharp implements to smudge, scrape, and polish this pastel, creating a sense of movement and texture, and revealing layers of brilliant color. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Additionally, he would depict a rougher side of parisien life from local brothels and cafes (see absinthe).

If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. For his pastels, Degas can use various supports: paper, panel, cardboard and even canvas as for his Seated Dancers. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

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We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection.

There were then the depictions of woman in varying levels of undress as they preparared for the day ahead.

Ballet Dancers in the Wings

Portrait of Edmond Duranty

Jockeys in the Rain

Laundresses

At the Jeweller's

Preparation for the Class

Dancers on a Bench

Dancer

Three Dancers

There were, of course, the ballerinas and the scenes from horse races.

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Edgar Degas paintings and pastels

Pastels are the most famous and representative works of Degas' art. Among Degas' numerous pastels, we have chosen this Woman Before a Mirror - Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg) - reproduced on the home page.

Le défilé

The March

Avant la course

Before the Race

Femme regardant aux jumelles

Woman with Opera Glasses

Danseuse assise. Etude pour Foyer de la danse à l’Opéra

Dancer Seated

Peinture à l'essence , 27 × 21 cm

121

Danseuse lisant près d’un poêle

Dancer Reading

Danseuse debout vue de dos

Dancer seen from the Back

Peinture à l'essence, lavis , 39 × 27 cm

171

La classe de danse

The Dance Lesson or Ballet Class

Pastel, gouache , 29 × 21 cm

212

La leçon de danse

The Dance Lesson or Ballet Class

Danseuses au repos

Dancers at Rest

Peinture à l'essence rehaussée de gouache , 46 × 32 cm

224

Préparation à la classe de danse

Preparation for Dance Class

Danseuses à la barre

Dancers at the Bar

Pastel, fusain , 65 × 50 cm

267

Danseuse verte

Dancer in Green

Femme devant un miroir

Woman Before a Mirror

Les deux arlequins

Two Harlequins

Danseuse basculant

Dancer Tilting

Cavalier et amazone

Rider and Horsewoman

Chez la modiste

At the Milliner's

Chez la modiste

At the Milliner's

Chez la modiste

At the Milliner's

Les repasseuses

Women Ironing

Falaise au bord de mer

Cliff on the Seashore

Edmond Duranty

Pastel, gouache , 100 × 100 cm

732

Jules Perrot

Peinture à l'essence , 48 × 30 cm

755

Henri Rouart devant son usine

Henri Rouart in Front of His Factory

Pastels

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The colours used by Edgar Degas in his pastels were both bright and bold, providing a summary of some of the qualities of the impressionist artists.

His prolific use of pastels meant this element of his drawing output should be covered separately, which we do so here.

Variety of mediums

Edgar Degas had several themes that he made use of in each of his favoured art mediums, namely oil painting, graphite and charcoal drawing, sculpture and pastels.

Served as studies and standalone artworks

In some cases his drawings would be preparation for later paintings, but in many cases they were standalone artworks in their own right.

Here, Degas has chosen elegant and harmonious colors showing his perfect mastery of technique: like At the Milliner's from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum – Madrid - and his Singer in Green from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Black outlines drawn over the pastel emphasize the contrapposto turn of the muscular and monumental nude.

Artwork Details

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He also turns to other subjects such as bathers illustrated by this pastel Bathers from the National Gallery, Washington and horse racing like Before the Race from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Paintings present another facet of Degas' art. The date Degas inscribed on the sheet has traditionally been read as 1894 but 1898 is more likely.

He treats certain subjects not found in his pastels touching for example on music and the Opera like Degas' Father Listening to Pagans from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Another theme addressed by Degas, essentially in his paintings: his portraits of which The Bellelli Family from the Musée d'Orsay is undoubtedly the most illustrious example.

Through the variety of subjects treated in his paintings and pastels, Degas was an observer of intimacy, thus distinguishing himself from the Impressionist artists who sought other values.