Edgar Degas

LOT 63 PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN EDGAR DEGAS 1834 - 1917 DANSE ESPAGNOLE stamped Degas, numbered 45/C and stamped with the foundry mark A.A. Hébrard cire perdue bronze height: 43.5cm. 17 1/8 in. Executed in wax circa 1881-95 and cast in bronze from 1919 in an edition of 25 known casts.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Plage à la marée basse stamped with the signature 'Degas' (L.658; lower left) pastel on paper 10¾ x 15¼ in. (27.4 x 39.8 cm.) Executed circa 1869 The artist's estate; fourth sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 2-4 July 1919, lot 48a (illustrated p. 43). Charles Vignier, Paris; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 21 May 1931, lot 51. Georges Viau, Paris; his estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11 December 1942, lot 62. Musée de l'Athénée, Geneva. Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner in 1963. PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE SWISS COLLECTION P.A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. II, Paris, 1946, no. 244 (illustrated p. 119).

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Danseuse, position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche, deuxième étude stamped with the signature 'Degas' (Lugt 658), numbered and stamped with the foundry mark '58/T CIRE PERDUE A.A.HÉBRARD' (on the top of the base) bronze with brown and green patina Height: 23 in. (58.4 cm.) The original wax model executed circa 1880s-1890s; cast 1919-1937 and later by the A.A. Hébrard foundry in an edition of twenty, numbered A to T, plus two casts reserved for the Degas heirs and the founder Acquired in the 1950s and thence by descent to the present owners. Property from an Important Swiss Collection J. Rewald, Degas, Works in Sculpture, A Complete Catalogue, London, 1944, no. XLIII, p. 150 (another cast illustrated pls. 32, 43-44). R. Russoli & F. Minervino, L'opera completa di Degas, Milan, 1970, no. S.11 (wax model illustrated). C.W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976 (wax model illustrated pl. 89). A. Pingeot, Degas, Sculptures, Paris, 1991, no. 10. S. Campbell, 'Degas, The Sculptures, A Catalogue Raisonné', in Apollo, no. 402, vol. CXLII, August 1995, no. 58-T, p. 39 (another cast illustrated). J.S. Czestochowski & A. Pingeot, Degas Sculptures, Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002, no. 58-T, p. 235 (another cast illustrated pp. 234-235). Lausanne, Palais de Beaulieu, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections suisses, de Manet à Picasso, May - October 1964, no. 20. Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections suisses de Manet à Picasso, May - September 1967, no. 17. Riehen, Wenkenpark, Skulptur im 20. Jahrhundert, May - September 1980. Zurich, Kunsthaus, Sammlungen Hans und Walter Bechtler, August - October 1982, no. 57, p. 173 (illustrated p. 52; titled 'Danseuse aux bras levés'). Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray, L'Impressionismo nella scultura, April - May 1989, no. 29. Riehen, Fondation Beyeler, Edgar Degas, The Late Works, September 2012 - January 2013, p. 257 (illustrated p. 58). Edgar Degas' sculptures of ballerinas are among his most celebrated works, studies of movement and grace that are given an extra rich life through their modulated surfaces, where one can trace, in the bronze that has captured the appearance of the original wax models, the deft, probing movements of the artist himself. This is clear in Danseuse, position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche, deuxième étude: the original maquette from which this cast was taken is considered by some to date from the mid-1880s, during one of the most renowned periods of Degas' career, when he was creating masterpiece after masterpiece in a variety of media, including the famous pastels in which he showed dancers at the ballet, often caught in positions denoting exercise or expectation, as they waited to burst into action. Danseuse, position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche, deuxième étude is one of three slightly differing examples of a study of a dancer in the 'fourth position'. Where many of the dancer sculptures depict figures captured while exercising, this is one of the few occasions when Degas showed a ballerina in a formal pose that might be used on stage as well. However, her nudity demonstrates that it was the body itself that was the source of Degas' focus, the form and balance, rather than the clothing that is so often shown in his pictures. Instead, he has focussed on the raw material of the 'dancer' herself. Of the three studies, two are believed to show the same model as each other, including the present example; the body of the third is different. This implies that, one way or another, Degas returned to the subject, revealing his fascination. And looking at Danseuse, position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche, deuxième étude, one can understand why: there is a gravity-defying sense of poise to this sculpture, with the leg lifted into the air so that it serves as a jutting horizontal, adding an intense dynamism. That dynamism is itself at odds with the reality of Degas' techniques in creating his sculptures: he was merciless in his demands of his models, who posed in his studio. This is not a spontaneous moment of practice or dance caught for posterity, but instead the product of lengthy observation from a number of angles. This reveals the extent to which, as Degas himself explained, 'I assure you that no art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament-- temperament is the word - I know nothing' (Degas, quoted in R. Kendall, ed., Degas by Himself: Drawings Prints Paintings Writings, London, 1987, p. 311).

Lot Description Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Trois danseuses dans les coulisses stamped with signature 'Degas' (Lugt 658; lower left) charcoal on paper laid down on board 25 1/8 x 19 5/8 in. (63.9 x 50 cm.) Drawn circa 1900-1910 Provenance Estate of the artist; Third sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 7-9 April 1919, lot 258. Richard Green, London. Acquired from the above by the present owner, June 2005. View Lot Notes > Although several members of the Impressionist circle painted the spectacles of the theater and the world of the Opéra, no other artist brought this environment so brilliantly to life as Degas. Degas was fascinated by all aspects of the ballet, both on- and off-stage, and illustrated every step from rehearsal to performance in more than fifteen hundred works in various media. In the present charcoal drawing, Degas depicts three dancers off-stage in the wings, waiting in anticipation as they watch the activity happening on-stage. The curve of the wing in the lower right mimics the curves of the dancers' akimbo arms, lending a certain fluidness and movement to the composition, perhaps suggesting the performance happening on-stage. For Degas, part of the appeal of the world of dance was the endless opportunities for experimentation that it afforded him, allowing him to reposition dancers and rework settings. The present work bears striking similarities to at least two other works from the third studio sale, lots 325 and 381. When asked by Louisine Havemeyer why he painted so many ballet dancers, Degas replied, "Because, madame, it is only there that I can rediscover the movements of the Greeks" (quoted in R. Pickvance, Degas 1879, exh. cat., National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1979, p. 18).

Lot Description Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Grande arabesque, troisième temps signed, numbered and stamped with foundry mark 'Degas 16/K A.A HEBRARD CIRE PERDUE' (Lugt 658; on the top of the base) bronze with red and brown patina Height: 16 in. (40.6 cm.); Length: 21 5/8 in. (54.9 cm.) Original wax model executed circa 1880s-1890s; this bronze version cast by 1926 in an edition of twenty, numbered A to T, plus two casts marked 'S' and 'AP' respectively, plus two casts reserved for the Degas heirs and the founder Hébrard marked 'HER.D' and 'HER' respectively Provenance Galerie Flechtheim, Düsseldorf (12 July 1926). M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York. Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner, circa 1955. Pre-Lot Text PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTOR Literature J. Rewald, Degas, Works in Sculpture, A Complete Catalogue, New York, 1944, p. 24, no. XL (another cast illustrated, p. 95). L. Browse, Degas Dancers, London, 1949, no. 155 (another cast illustrated; titled Danseuse nue en grande arabesque). J. Rewald and L. von Matt, Degas Sculpture: The Complete Works, New York, 1956, p. 149, no. XL (another cast illustrated, pl. 33). F. Russoli and F. Minervino, L'Opera completa di Degas, Milan, 1970, p. 140, no. S8 (another cast illustrated). C.W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, no. 91 (another cast illustrated; titled Grand Arabesque). R. Gordon and A. Forge, Degas, New York, 1988, p. 208 (another cast illustrated). J. Rewald, Degas's Complete Sculpture: Catalogue Raisonné, San Francisco, 1990, pp. 118-119, no. XL (original wax model illustrated, p. 118; another cast illustrated, p. 119). A. Pingeot, Degas, sculptures, Paris, 1991, pp. 155-156, no. 7 (another cast illustrated; another cast illustrated again, pp. 68-71). S. Campbell, "Degas, The Sculptures: A Catalogue Raisonné" in Apollo, vol. CXLII, no. 402, August 1995, pp. 18-19, no. 16 (another cast illustrated, p. 18). A. Pingeot, "The Casting of Degas' Sculptures: Completing the Story" in Apollo, vol. CXLII, no. 402, August 1995, p. 16, nos. 3-4 (original wax model and another cast illustrated, p. 62; another cast illustrated again, p. 61). J.S. Czestochowski and A. Pingeot, Degas Sculptures: Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002, pp. 152-153, no. 16 (another cast illustrated). S. Campbell, R. Kendall, D.S. Barbour and S.G. Sturman, Degas in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2009, vol. II, pp. 358-361 and 514-515, no. 68 (another cast illustrated, pp. 358-361). S.G. Lindsay, D.S. Barbour and S.G. Sturman, Edgar Degas Sculpture, Washington, D.C., 2010, pp. 209-212 and 364, no. 32 (original wax model illustrated, pp. 210, 211 and 364). View Lot Notes > Of all his sculptural subjects, it was the arabesque that most often appears to have inspired Edgar Degas. This was a theme that featured in a succession of his sculptures from the 1870s onwards, meaning that it was in fact one of his earliest subjects in three dimensional work. As its name implies, Grande arabesque, troisième temps is one of a succession of sculptures of a grande arabesque, each showing a variation of the position. It has been observed that strictly speaking, the arm and leg positions of the present composition make it the only true "arabesque" of those works. However, the arabesque was clearly a notion that fascinated Degas. In Grande arabesque, troisième temps, he has used it as a springboard for an innovative investigation of balance and motion. The body appears to rest on a fulcrum provided by the one leg which is touching the ground, while the other leg is thrust into the air at an oblique angle; that angle is almost continued, on the other side, by the body of the dancer, which tilts towards the earth, pointing downwards, an act that is potently underscored by the arm that hangs out beyond the base of the sculpture. In technical and balletic terms, then, Grande arabesque, troisième temps shows an incredible amount of seemingly precarious equilibrium. The body pierces the air in various directions, creating an impression of agility conquering the weighty mass of the body, both in the bronze and in the original wax. The fact that the dancer in this sculpture has her upper body seesawing towards the ground means that this sculpture shows her in a penché position. Indeed, this composition has sometimes been referred to as Première arabesque penchée for this reason. According to the catalogue that accompanied the momentous retrospective of Degas' works held at the Grand Palais, Paris, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1988-1989, while the arabesque itself featured in a number of works in both two and three dimensions over the decades of Degas' explorations of the ballet, Grande arabesque, troisième temps is the only composition that shows it penchée (see J. Sutherland Boggs et al., Degas, exh. cat., New York, 1988, p. 586). Perhaps Degas was drawn to the delicate sense of balance and precariousness that this position specifically evokes when captured in three dimensions; this may then hint at the complexity of the relationship between the different media that he explored, indicating the extent to which Degas' plastic oeuvre remains autonomous from his drawings and paintings.