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Self-Portrait

A work made of etching in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1857

Artist:

Edgar Degas
French, 1834-1917

About this artwork

A work of surprising sophistication for a relatively young practitioner of the art, this etching was clearly inspired by the early graphic self-portraits of Rembrandt. Degas gleaned from the Baroque master his capacity to create an atmosphere from which a convincing presence emerges.

This probing self-appraisal was made when the artist was only twenty-three years old. The maturity of Degas’s gaze is matched by the sophistication of his technique. He has printed this etching with a personalized, rich wiping of the plate that anticipates his later work in monotypes.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas

Title

Self-Portrait

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1857

Medium

Etching in black on ivory laid paper

Inscriptions

Inscribed recto, lower left, in graphite: "Degas par lui- (?)- 23 ans 1857"; inscribed verso, lower right, in graphite: "26812"

Dimensions

Image/plate: 23.2 × 14.3 cm (9 3/16 × 5 11/16 in.); Sheet: 32.4 × 23.3 cm (12 13/16 × 9 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection

Reference Number

1932.1294

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/13551/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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