Facture Volume 3: Degas

Edited by Daphne Barbour and Suzanne Quillen Lomax

Volume 3 of the conservation division’s biennial journal Facture is dedicated to the works of the Edgar Degas (1834–1917) in honor of the centenary of his death. This volume is the first to focus on the work of a single artist, and it features a wide range of essays that draw on the tremendous wealth of the Gallery’s collection and its collaborative scientific, scholarly, and conservation expertise. The essays include discussions of the notion of “finish” in Degas’s paintings, the complex makeup of his wax sculptures, the casting of posthumous bronzes, his innovative use of multiple layers of pastel and fixative in a later pastel on paper, etchings created in collaboration with Mary Cassatt, and even a sonnet that Degas wrote to his “little dancer.”

Edgar Degas, Scene from the Steeplechase: The Fallen Jockey, 1866, reworked 1880–1881 and c. 1897, the under image is an infrared reflectogram (1100–1400 nm) exposing the various layers of the composition.

Edgar Degas, *The Tub*, c. 1889, pigmented beeswax, plastiline, plaster, lead, wood, cloth, cork, wire, on wooden base, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.48

Six pink-skinned ballerinas stretch of practice in this horizontal pastel drawing. The scene is roughly sketched so some details, like the women’s faces, are indistinct. They all have brown hair and costumes with sleeveless bodices and knee-length tutus. Three dancers cluster close to us. Two at the front have tutus shaded with peacock blue and amethyst purple and dotted with spring green. The bodices of these two and the one standing behind them are copper orange. The woman to our right holds both hands to the small of her back. Another touches her hair with both hands, and the third stands with her feet apart in fourth position, toes pointing outward, and hands clasped gracefully down in front of her. The other three dancers wear pale pink bodices and tutus that match the color of their skin. Taking up the left half of the composition and moving slightly back in space, one dancer leans forward with one arm raised, and the other two bend double to brush one hand by their feet. The floor is tawny brown. The background is loosely drawn with strokes of lime green, pale pink, teal blue, and sand brown. The artist’s name appeared in the lower left corner, “Degas.” — Edgar Degas, *Ballet Scene*, c. 1907, pastel on greenish transparent tracing paper, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.16

This sculpture is of a young girl in a ballet costume standing before us with her hands clasped behind her lower back, her head tipped back, and her chin thrust forward. The skin of her face, arms, chest, and legs are covered in bronze-brown wax, and her body faces us in this photograph. The sleeveless, putty-gray bodice of her costume fits tightly above a layered, fabric, pale, tea-brown tutu, and she wears ballet shoes. Her hair is pulled back but bangs sweep across her forehead, brushing her nearly closed, heavy eyelids. Her lips are slightly parted, and light catches the broad planes of her cheekbones. Her shoulders are drawn back by her pose, holding her hands behind her with arms straight, and her hips jut slightly forward. She stands with her right foot extended in front of her, with both feet turned out, parallel to each other. She stands on a square, wood platform.

Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, plaster cast possibly 1920/1921, after original wax modelled 1878-1881, painted plaster, fabric, metal armature, on plaster base, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.62

Contents

Degas and Difficulty
 Richard Kendall

The Question of Finish in the Work of Edgar Degas 
Ann Hoenigswald and Kimberly A. Jones

Edgar Degas’ Wax Sculptures: Characterization and Comparison with Contemporary Practice 
Suzanne Quillen Lomax, Barbara H. Berrie, Michael Palmer

Casting Degas’s Sculptures into Bronze: A Closer Look
Daphne Barbour and Shelley Sturman

Technical Exploration of Edgar Degas’ Ballet Scene: A late pastel on tracing paper
Michelle Facini, Kathryn A. Dooley, John K. Delaney, Suzanne Quillen Lomax, Michael Palmer

In Focus

Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt: A Comparison of Drawings for Soft-Ground Etchings
Kimberly Schenck

The Little Dancer in Wax and Words: Reading a Sonnet by Edgar Degas
Alison Luchs

Facture Volume 3: Degas

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