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Portrait of a seated woman in a hat and coat

In precise graphite lines on off white paper, a woman is shown seated at a table facing us and looking to the right. Her curly hair is visible on her forehead under her hat which is decorated in front with flowers. She wears a coat and a scarf around her neck hangs down in front as she rests her right elbow on a table. She holds her hand up to her cheek, her forefinger extended and the others curling under. The space behind her is left blank.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1965.253
People
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French (Paris, France 1834 - 1917 Paris, France)
Title
Study for "A Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?)"
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Study for the Portrait of Mme Hertel (La Dame aux Chrysanthèmes)
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1865
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/296757

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
actual: 35.5 x 23.3 cm (14 x 9 3/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Graphite, l.r.: Degas / 1865

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Created, Atelier Degas sold at Vente I, no. 312, to Paul , 1918.
Paul Rosenberg, Paris, Purchased at Vente I of Degas atelier, 1918, Sold to Paul J. Sachs, 1920. Purchased for 5,300 francs
Paul J. Sachs, Cambridge, Purchased from Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1920, Bequest to Fogg Art Museum, 1965. Purchased for 7,000 francs

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Meta and Paul J. Sachs
Accession Year
1965
Object Number
1965.253
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Henri Rivière, ed., Les Dessins de Degas, Demotte (Paris, France, 1922 - 1923), pl. 59
  • Laura Howland Dudley, "The New Fogg Art Museum--The Collection of Prints", The Arts (July 1927), vol. XII, no. 1, pp. 28-32, ill. p. 32
  • Exhibition of French Painting of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1929), no. 34
  • Fogg Art Museum Handbook, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1931), p. 112, repr.
  • Louise Burroughs, "Degas in the Havemeyer Collection", The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1932), vol. XXVII, no. 5, p. 145
  • Agnes Mongan, "Portrait Studies by Degas in American Collections", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, May 1932), vol. 1, no. 4, p. 65; fig. 5
  • Margaret Scott, An Exhibition of Old-Master Drawings for the Benefit of Public Health Nursing Milk and Emergency Fund, exh. cat., Junior League (Pittsburgh, 1933), cat. no. 31
  • Independent Painters of Nineteenth Century Paris, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA, 1935), no. 120
  • Degas, 1834-1917, exh. cat., Pennsylvania Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA, 1936), no. 69, repr.
  • Jacqueline Bouchot-Saupique and Marie Delaroche-Vernet, Degas, exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris, France, 1937), no. 73
  • Agnes Mongan and Paul J. Sachs, Drawings in the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, 1940), vol. 1, cat. no. 667, fig. 343
  • Masterpieces of 19th and 20th Century French Drawing from the Fogg Museum..., brochure, Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI, 1941), checklist no. 20
  • Paul J. Sachs, "Extracts from Letters of Henri Focillon", Gazette des Beaux-Arts (July 1944 - December 1944), vol. XXVI, pp. 11-12, repr. fig. 1
  • Margaret Breuning, "Master Drawings at Century Club", Art Digest (June 1, 1947), vol. 21, no. 17, repr. p. 16
  • Hans Tietze, European Master Drawings in the United States, J. J. Augustin, Inc. (New York, 1947), no. 144, repr.
  • Phillips Memorial Gallery, Loan exhibition of drawings & pastels by Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, exh. cat., Phillips Memorial Gallery (Washington, D.C, 1947), no. 31
  • Works by Edgar Degas, exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH, 1947), no. 62, pl. XLIX
  • Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Letters, ed. Marcel Guérin, Bruno Cassirer (Oxford, England, 1948), ill. 8 (as Mme Hertel)
  • Diamond Jubilee Exhibition: Masterpieces of Drawing, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA, 1950), no. 94, repr.
  • Regina Shoolman Slatkin and Charles E. Slatkin, Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America, Oxford University Press (NY) and Oxford University Press (UK) (New York, NY, 1950), p. 182, pl. 103
  • Daniel Catton Rich, Edgar-Hilaire-Germain Degas, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1951), pl. 6
  • Paul J. Sachs, The Pocket Book of Great Drawings, Pocket Books, Inc. (New York, 1951), pp. 105-106, pl. 63
  • De David à Toulouse-Lautrec: chefs-d'oeuvres des collections américaines, exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris, France, 1955), no. 69, pl. 53
  • Yujiro Shinoda, "Degas: der Einzug des Japanischen in die französische Malerei" (Thesis, University of Köln, 1957), Toppan-Druckerei, p. 19, fig. 3
  • Jakob Rosenberg, Great Draughtsmen from Pisanello to Picasso, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1959), p. 109, fig. 202
  • The Nature of Drawing, British Broadcasting Corporation (London, England, 1959), fig. 29
  • Ingres and Degas: Two Classical Draughtsmen, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1961), no. 8
  • Jaromir Pecirka, Edgar Degas: Drawings, P. Nevill (London, England, 1963), pl. 7
  • Agnes Mongan, Memorial Exhibition: Works of Art from the Collection of Paul J. Sachs [1878-1965]: given and bequeathed to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1965), cat. no. 57, repr.
  • Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, 1967)
  • Gordon C. Aymar, The Art of Portrait Painting, Chilton Book Company (Philadelphia, PA, 1967), pp. 140 and 144, pl. 68
  • Jean Leymarie, Dessins de la période impressionniste de Manet à Renoir, Skira (Geneva, Switzerland, 1969), p. 43, repr. pp. 44 and 13
  • Norman Laliberté and Alex Mogelon, Drawing with Pencils, History and Modern Techniques, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. (New York, NY, 1970), repr. p. 8 (as Portrait of Mme Hertel)
  • Degas' drawings, Dover Publications Inc. (New York, NY, 1973), repr. on cover and pl. 21
  • Jakob Rosenberg, Great Draughtsmen from Pisanello to Picasso [rev. ed.], Harper & Row (New York, NY, 1974), p. 147, fig. 266
  • Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1974), p. 73, under no. 10
  • Theodore Reff, Degas: The Artist's Mind [reprint], The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1976), pp. 48-49, fig. 24
  • Theodore Reff, "Degas: A Master Among Masters", The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1977), vol. XXXIV, no. 4, fig. 7
  • Eduard Hüttinger, Degas, Crown Publishers Inc. (New York, NY, 1977), repr. p. 8 (Study for Portrait of Mme Hertel)
  • Ian Dunlop, Degas, Harper & Row (New York, NY, 1979), fig. 59
  • Denys Sutton, Edgar Degas, Life and Work, Rizzoli (New York, NY, 1986), p. 67
  • Richard Kendall, ed., Degas by himself: Drawings, Prints, Paintings, Writings, Macdonald Orbis (London, England, 1987), plate 64 (color) (as Study for Mme Hertel)
  • Theodore Reff, Degas: The Artist's Mind, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1987), pp. 48-49, fig. 24
  • Jean Sutherland Boggs, Degas, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art / National Gallery of Canada (New York, NY and Ottawa, Canada, 1988), no. 61, repr.
  • Denis Rouart, Degas in Search of His Technique, Skira Rizzoli (New York, NY, 1988), repr. p. 122
  • Horst Keller, Edgar Degas, Bruckmann Verlag (München, 1988), fig. 27
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1990), no. 46, repr.
  • Bernd Growe, Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, Benedikt Taschen Verlag (Köln, Germany, 1991), repr. p. 17
  • Ann Dumas and Colta Ives, The Private Collection of Edgar Degas, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art / Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1997), p. 144, fig. 184
  • Ann Dumas and David A. Brenneman, Degas and America: The Early Collectors, exh. cat., High Museum of Art/MInneapolis Institute of Arts/Rizzoli (New York, NY, 2001), cat. no. 17, repr. (color); also pp. 26, 28
  • Jon Garelick, "Abstract Thoughts: The Transitional and Transcendent Art of Edgar Degas at the Sackler Museum", The Boston Phoenix (August 5 2005), p. 18, p. 18
  • Christopher Reed, "Mad for Degas", Harvard Magazine (July 2005 - August 2005), vol. 107, no. 6, pp. 40-45, p. 43, ill.
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Jean Sutherland Boggs, Degas at Harvard, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge and New Haven, 2005), cat. no. 38, fig. 5 (color), pp. 24, 26, 29, 32
  • Catalogue des tableaux, pastels et dessins par Edgar Degas et provenant de son atelier 1e vente: May 16-18, 1918, auct. cat., Galerie Georges Petit (Paris, France, May 6 - May 8, 1918), no. 312
  • Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall, Degas and the Art of Japan, exh. cat., Reading Museum / Yale University Press (Reading, PA, 2007), p. 15, repr. fig. 7
  • Louis-Antoine Prat, Le dessin français au XIXe siècle, Somogy Éditions d'Art (Paris, 2011), p. 527, repr. p. 526 as fig. 1268

Exhibition History

  • French Painting of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/06/1929 - 04/06/1929
  • Exhibition of Drawings by Degas, Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, 10/27/1930 - 11/15/1930
  • An Exhibition of Old-Master Drawings for the Benefit of Public Health Nursing Milk and Emergency Fund, Junior League, Pittsburgh, 12/13/1933 - 01/06/1934
  • Independent Painters of 19th Century Paris, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 03/15/1935 - 04/28/1935
  • Degas, 1834-1917, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 11/01/1936 - 11/30/1936
  • Degas, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 03/01/1937 - 05/20/1937
  • Great Modern French Drawings, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences Museum, Brooklyn, 01/01/1939 - 03/12/1939
  • Great Modern Drawings, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, 04/07/1940 - 05/01/1940
  • Masterpieces of 19th and 20th Century French Drawing from the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard University and the Museum of Modern Art of New York City, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 05/01/1941 - 06/01/1941
  • Edgar Degas Bronzes, Drawings, Pastels, Buchholz Gallery, New York, 01/03/1945 - 01/27/1945
  • Drawings by Degas, Farnsworth Art Museum (now Davis Museum and Cultural Center), Wellesley, 02/16/1946 - 03/10/1946
  • Works by Edgar Degas, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 02/05/1947 - 03/09/1947
  • Loan Exhibition of Drawings & Pastels by Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, 03/30/1947 - 04/30/1947
  • Drawings from the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University (Collected by Paul J. Sachs), Century Club, New York, 05/12/1947 - 09/25/1947
  • Degas' Portraits of his Family and Friends, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 03/06/1948 - 03/28/1948
  • The Diamond Jubilee, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 11/04/1950 - 02/11/1951
  • French Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 03/28/1952 - 04/28/1952
  • De David à Toulouse-Lautrec: chefs d'oeuvre des collections américaines, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 04/20/1955 - 07/05/1955
  • Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture by Edgar Degas, The Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, 10/16/1955 - 11/13/1955
  • An Exhibition of Drawings, Colby College, Miller Library, Waterville, 04/27/1956 - 05/23/1956
  • Ingres and Degas: Two Classical Draughtsmen, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/24/1961 - 05/20/1961
  • Memorial Exhibition: Works of Art from the Collection of Paul J. Sachs [1878-1965] Given and Bequeathed to the Fogg Art Museum Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 11/15/1965 - 01/15/1966; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 12/19/1966 - 02/26/1967
  • Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 10/12/1967 - 12/03/1967
  • Degas, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 02/09/1988 - 05/16/1988; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 06/16/1988 - 08/28/1988; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 09/27/1988 - 01/08/1989
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, Isetan Department Store, Tokyo, 03/01/1990 - 04/10/1990; Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, 04/14/1990 - 05/13/1990
  • Degas at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/2005 - 11/27/2005

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu