Woman Seated in an Armchair, Wiping Her Neck
original plastiline 1890s/c.1905, cast 1920/1952
Sculptor, French, 1834 - 1917
West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G4
Artwork overview
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Medium
copper alloy
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall with base: 31.6 x 27 x 30.1 cm (12 7/16 x 10 5/8 x 11 7/8 in.)
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Accession
1985.64.66
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(A.A. Hébrard, Paris); reportedly (Galerie Kaganovitch, Paris), before 1952.[1] R. Gaston Dreyfus;[2] (sale, Sotheby's, London, 30 March 1966, no. 52); purchased by (P. & D. Colnaghi, London) for Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia;[3] gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] Joseph S. Czestochowski and Anne Pingeot, Degas Sculptures. Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002: 207, identify this sculpture as the cast in an exhibition organized by Max Kaganovitch in 1952 at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; they cite an incorrect catalogue number, which should be 143 (R. LXX) rather than 144 (R. LXXII).
[2] The consignor's name was kindly provided by Eva Avloniti of the Sotheby's office in London; see her e-mail of 9 April 2003 to Anne Halpern, in NGA curatorial files.
[3] Mellon collection records, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1952
Possibly Edgar Degas, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1952, no. 143, as Vrouw in stoel.
1955
Possibly The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Galerie Chalette, New York, 1955, no. 24.
1974
Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.
2010
Edgar Degas: Figures in Motion, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, 2010 (used as the catalogue: Joseph S. Czestochowski and Anne Pingeot, Degas - Sculptures, Memphis, 2002).
Bibliography
1991
Pingeot, Anne. Degas Sculptures. Paris, 1991: no. 58.
1994
Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 71, repro.
1995
Campbell, Sara. "A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes." Apollo 142 (August 1995): 32, no. 44 (with erroneous provenance).
Barbour, Daphne, and Shelley Sturman. "Degas' Women in Washington: Four Case Studies." In From Marble to Chocolate: The Conservation of Modern Sculpture, edited by Jackie Heuman, 31-38. London, 1995: 33, fig. 1.
2002
Czestochowski, Joseph S., and Anne Pingeot. Degas--Sculptures. Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes. Memphis, 2002: 207.
2010
Lindsay, Suzanne Glover, Daphne S. Barbour, and Shelley G. Sturman. Edgar Degas Sculpture. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2010: no. 52, 300-301, color repro.
Inscriptions
on lower proper left front corner of chair: Degas [stamped replica of artist's signature]; stamped on lower proper right back corner of chair: CIRE PERDUE AAHEBRARD / 44/C
Markings
FM: CIRE PERDUE AAHEBRARD
Wikidata ID
Q63860805