Portrait of a Woman in Gray

Edgar Degas

ca. 1865 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

This beguiling sitter is depicted as if in a transitory moment, seemingly about to rise from the sofa, a slight smile on her lips. Degas rarely painted a face that reflects such good humor and calm. The woman is unidentified, but may well have been someone the artist knew intimately. He executed few commissioned portraits, preferring instead to depict family and friends, and seldom sold the portraits that he did paint. This work was in Degas’s studio at the time of his death and was included in his 1918 estate sale, as indicated by the stamped signature in the lower right corner.

Artist

Edgar Degas

Date

ca. 1865

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin C. Vogel, 1957