Self-Portrait

Edgar Degas|Edgar Degas

1857 · Etching on wove paper; first state of four · Drawings and Prints

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.

Artist

Edgar Degas|Edgar Degas

Date

1857

Medium

Etching on wove paper; first state of four

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, 1972