Café-Concert

1876/1877

Edgar Degas

Artist, French, 1834 - 1917

Six women wearing off-the-shoulder gowns with long skirts sit in front of a stage where several men play instruments in this horizontal pastel drawing. They all have pale skin and brown or black hair. Across the stage from us, the women’s gowns are petal pink, crimson red, butter yellow, baby or azure blue, or black, and they all wear black chokers around their necks. Their hair is swept up and tied with bows or ornaments to match their dresses. One woman holds a bouquet of flowers in her lap and two more hold fans, one open and one closed, to their mouths. Three women in the front row sit closely together and others turn or stand. The walls and possibly curtains of this space are luminous yellow, and a green palm-like tree is at the back of the room. The woman wearing black stands directly in front of the stage, one hand lifted and the other clasping her skirts as she leans toward the musicians. Her mouth is open, and she is harshly up-lit by the stage lights. Three men facing her hold a violin, upright bass, and perhaps a viola. Three more men closer to us face away so we only see the brown hair of one, the black top hat of another, and the straw-yellow bowler hat of the third. The stage space is enclosed opposite us with a wall streaked with kelly green, peacock blue, and charcoal gray. A three-lobed brass-colored light hangs or is affixed to the wall there. The artist signed the lower left, “Degas.”

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pastel over monotype and charcoal (in sticks of fan) on tan laid paper and board

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

  • Dimensions

    actual: 9 1/4 x 17 in. (23.5 x 43.2 cm)
    framed: 16 1/8 x 24 in. (41 x 61 cm)

  • Accession

    2014.136.175

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Charles Haviland, Paris, 1877; William A. Clark [1839-1925], New York, 1897; bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1877

  • "Third Impressionism Exhibition," Paris, 1877, no. 43 (probably).

1959

  • "Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art," Wildenstein Gallery, New York.

1968

  • "Degas Monotypes," Fogg Art MUseum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, April 24 - June 14.

1978

  • "The William A. Clark Collection," The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, April 26 - July 16.

1984

  • "Edgar Degas: The Painter as Printmaker," Baltimore Museum of Fine Arts, Baltimore, MD, November 13, 1984 - January 13, 1985.

1986

  • "The New Painting: Impressionism 1874 - 1886," National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, January 16 - April 6.

2005

  • Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005, no. 159, repro.

2015

  • Focus on the Corcoran: Works on Paper, 1860-1990, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2015.

2019

  • The Touch of Color: Pastels at the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019 - 2020, unnumbered catalogue.

Bibliography

1918

  • Alexandre, Arsene. "Essai sur M. Degas," Les Arts. 166: 6.

1927

  • Manson, JB. The Life and Work of Edgar Degas. London, 1927, 25, pl. 34.

1946

  • Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son Oeuvre. 4 vols. Paris, 1946-1949: 2:202, no. 404.

1951

  • Rich, Daniel Catton. Degas. New York, Harry Abrams, 19.

1967

  • Janis, Eugenia Parry. "The Role of Monotype in the Working Method of Degas--I," The Burlington Magazine. 109.766: 24 (fig.49).

  • Janis, Eugenia Parry. "The Role of Monotype in the Working Method of Degas--II," The Burlington Magazine. 109.767: 75-76.

1968

  • Werner, Alfred. Degas Pastesl. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications, 56-57, no. 19.

  • Boggs, Jean Sutherland. "Degas Monotypes at the Fogg," The Burlington Magazine. 110.784: 429.

1972

  • Terasse, Antoine. Edgar Degas. Milano, Fratelli Fabbri Editori, 39-40, no. 2.

  • Lassaigne, Jaques. Toulouse-Lautrec and the Paris of the Cabarets. Milan, Frateeli Fabbri Editori, pl. 8.

1975

  • Adhemar, Jean and Francoise Cachin. Degas: the complete etchings, lithographs, and monotypes. New York, The Viking Press, 281.

1976

  • Blunden, Maria and Godfrey. _ Impressionists and Impressionism._ New York, Skira, 151.

  • Reff, Theodore. Degas: The Artist's Mind. New York and London, 1976: no. 14.

1979

  • Thomson, Richard. "Degas in Edinburgh," The Burlington Magazine. 121.919: 677.

  • Carandente, Giovanni. Degas. New York, Avenel Books, pl. XVIII.

1980

  • Parke-Taylor, Michael. "The Permanent Collection," N-MAG. 6.2: no page numbers.

1982

  • Reff, Theodore. Manet and Modern Paris. Chicago and London, The University of Chciago Press, 90-91, no. 25.

1984

  • Clark, TJ. The Painting of Modern Life._ New York, Knopf, no. 108.

  • Shackelford, George T. M.. Degas: The Dancers. Washington D.C., The National Gallery of Art, 30-31, fig. 1.7.

1986

  • Brettell, Richard R. "The Third Exhibition," in The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Ed. Charles Moffett. San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 204.

1988

  • Thomson, Richard. Degas: The Nudes. New York, Thames and Hudson, 72.

  • Herbert, Robert L. Georges Seurat 1859-1891. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 342.

  • Thomson, Richard. "Degas's Only Known Painting on Tile," The Burlington Magazine. 130.1020: n. 20.

  • Gordon, Robert, and Andrew Forge. Degas. New York, Harry Abrams, 70, 141, 234.

  • Herbert, Robert L.. Impressionism: Art Leisure, and Parisian Society. New Haven, Yale University Press, 82, 86-87, Pl. 85.

1990

  • Broude, Norma. "A World in Light: France and the International Impressionist Movement," World Impressionism. New York, Harry Abrams, 16.

  • Armstrong, Carol. Odd Man Out: Readings of the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas. Chicago, 1990: 145,149.

1991

  • Distel, Anne. Seurat. Paris, Ed. du Chêne, fig. 3.

1992

  • Boggs, Jean Sutherland and Anne Maheux. Degas Pastels. New York, George Braziller, no. 9.

2001

  • Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 217.

2008

  • Druick, Douglas W. "Cafe Concert," Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies. 34.1: 79.

2013

  • Vinson, Heather J.. Repetitions: Memory and Making in Degas's Ballet Classroom Series. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 106-107, 109, 112, 124, 131, 135, 137, no. 3.10.

2014

  • Lloyd, Christopher. Edgar Degas: Drawings and Pastels 1886-1904. Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, no. 124.

2019

  • Schulman, Michael.Edgar Degas, Digital Critical Catalogue. MS-903.

Inscriptions

lower left in pastel: Degas

Wikidata ID

Q64556396

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