Sheet of Studies and Sketches — About This Work
Edgar Degas, 1858
About the Work
Heads and smaller figure and horse sketches share the same sheet without forming a continuous scene. Their different scales and degrees of finish let the page be read as a sequence of concentrated acts of looking. A pale central head sits between darker studies, giving the scattered page a point of return.
Degas made the studies in Florence in 1858. The central female head copies a drawing then attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, so the sheet also records his engagement with earlier art and with the changing authority of attribution.
Graphite, ink and watercolour produce different kinds of emphasis across the paper. The contrasts preserve the variety of the working page, where a carefully described head can coexist with a quicker or more strongly accented passage.
The Work
Artist: Edgar Degas
Title: Sheet of Studies and Sketches
Date: 1858
Medium: Graphite, pen and dark brown ink, and watercolor on thick ivory wove paper
Recorded dimensions: 23.5 × 30.4 cm (W × H)
Collection: Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession number: 1951.430
Print & Presentation
Palatine presentation: 28 × 35.5 cm Classic Frame, portrait.
The complete artwork is reproduced at its recorded scale, subject only to negligible whole-pixel rounding, without enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion. The surrounding white presentation area accommodates the artwork within the framed presentation and is incorporated into the print rather than added as a separate mount.
Frame finishes: Black, White or Natural.
Paper & glazing: Enhanced Matte + Perspex.
Why Original Scale?
Most art-print shops offer the same image in a choice of Small, Medium and Large sizes. We take a different approach. For each edition, we begin with the recorded dimensions of the original work and reproduce the complete image at that scale, preserving its proportions and avoiding enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion.
Source: Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0. John L. Severance Fund. 1951.430.
Care: Display in a dry interior away from prolonged direct sunlight and sources of moisture.
Notes from Palatine
If you would like to stay with us, Notes from Palatine is an occasional letter about newly added works, artists and the thinking behind the collection. There is no fixed schedule; we write when there is something worth sharing.
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