Edgar De Gas was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draughtsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement, as do his racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and depiction of human isolation. Early in his career, his ambition was to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art. In his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.

Brothel Scenes

Prostitute Seated in an Armchair
( Pensionnaire Assise dans un Fauteuil)

Aquatint-etching after the monotype,
published by Ambroise Vollard, printed by Maurice Potin,
illustrations for "La Maison Tellier" by Guy de Maupassant, edition 238/305
on Rives wove, S 25 x 31 cm, P 16 x 21 cm

Price: 400 €

Nude Woman Drying Her Face
(Femme nue s'essuyant la figure)

Aquatint-etching after the monotype,
published by Ambroise Vollard, printed by Maurice Potin,
illustrations for "La Maison Tellier" by Guy de Maupassant, edition 238/305
on Rives wove, S 25 x 31 cm, P 16,50 x 21 cm

Price: 400 €

In the Salon (Au Salon)

Aquatint-etching after the monotype,
published by Ambroise Vollard, printed by Maurice Potin,
illustrations for "La Maison Tellier" by Guy de Maupassant, edition 238/305
on Rives wove, S 25 x 31 cm, P 17 x 20 cm

Price: 400 €

Maupassant, Guy de. La Maison Tellier. Illustrations d'Edgar Degas. Paris: Ambrose Vollars, 1933.( contained 19 etchings after Degas "hors texte" of which three are printed in colors. with etchings by Maurice Potin based on a portfolio of unpublished Degas monotypes done in the late nineteenth century which Degas had called Scénes de maisons closes. Maurice Potin had to etch as many as three different copper plates to capture the rich, feathery effects of Degas's monotypes in a project that required six years to complete. "In his superbly engraved plates of aquatint-etching Potin has preserved the rich black and pastel colors of the originals." (Johnson) La Maison Tellier is one of only twenty "luxury books" (many were unfinished during his lifetime) created by Ambroise Vollard who, aside from his business of print publishing, wanted to produce "fine, exquisitely illustrated books." The roster of books that Vollard printed include some of the most carefully printed and beautiful art books of the century: Bonnard's Parallèment (1900); Braque's Théognie by Hésiode (begun 1932) ; Chagall's Fables de La Fontaine (begun 1927) ; Picasso's Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu by Balzac (1931) and the great Rouault portfolios including Cirque de l'étoile filante (1938). Others like Matisse's Jazz which were begun by Vollard, were finished by the publisher Teriade after Vollard's death. *La Maison Tellier by Guy de Maupassant, 1934

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)