Spaightwood Galleries

Degas was one of the greatest of the Impressionists and a key figures in the development of Modernism. Degas' paintings focus on people, dancers, women getting ready for the day (or night), and running horses; his prints share this interests for the most part: people predominate. Degas was a dedicated print collector (at his death he owned 1700 Daumier lithographs and 1900 prints by Gavarni. He made etchings, for the most part, from live subjects, sketching with an etching needle on a copperplate, and printed to please himself. Most of his prints are known only because after his death, his dealer, Ambroise Vollard, printed editions of 150 from the cancelled plates found in his studio. His prints are wonders of spontaneity.

Selected Bibliography: Jean Adhemar and Françoise Cachin, Degas: The Complete Etchings, Lithographs, and Monotypes (London: Thames and Hudson, 1974); Loys Delteil: Le Peintre-Graveur Illustré: Volume 9: Degas (Paris, 1919); Sue Welsh Reed and Barbara Stern Shapiro, Edgar Degas: The Painter as Printmaker (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1984).

Self Portrait (MFA 8: 4 states , Delteil 1 5 states, Adhemar 13). Original etching, 1857. 11 proofs from the four states before cancellation. After Degas' death. Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours is an impression from Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20). Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Image size: 231x144mm. Price: SOLD.

On the Stage III / Sur la scène III (MFA 24: 5 states, D. 32, A. 26 v/v cancelled plate). Original soft ground etching, drypoint, & roulette, 1877.The MFA identifes 6 proofs from early states and an edition of of c. 150 impressions for a catalogue published by Les Amis des Arts de Pau. After Degas' death. Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours is an impression from Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20) printed on cream, heavy weight, heavily textured, wove paper. No attempt has been made to hide the cancellation marks, which are not too obtrusive, and the image shows lots of detail. Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Image size: 99x125mm. Price: $2600.

Le sportsman montant son cheval / The sportsman mounts his horse (MFA 3, D. 9 v/v, A. 3 v/v). Original soft ground etching, drypoint, & roulette, 1877.The MFA identifes 4 proofs from the 1st and 2nd states and borrows a proof from the cancelled plate from the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition. The MFA says they were unable to locate any examples of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th states. Degas had already begun to obliterate the horse in the foregrond; the area is partly burnished and marred by a series of vertical scratches. Our proof has ink on the edges of the plate. Rare! After Degas' death. Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours may be a trial proof for Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20) which, like ours, was printed on cream, heavy weight, heavily textured, wove paper. No attempt has been made to hide the cancellation marks, which are not too obtrusive, and the image shows lots of detail. Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Image size: 83x75mm. Price: $2950.

Dancer putting on her shoe (MFA 55: 2 sttes, Delteil 36, Adhemar 60). Original etching, c. 1892. 4 proofs. After Degas' death. Vollard published (c. 1919-20) an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Sometime after that, another edition in which the cancellation marks were masked so that they didn't print, was attempted but not carried out. Ours is a proof from that projected edition (there are faint traces of the cancellation marks above the dancer's left foot). Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for them. Image size: 231x144mm. Price: SOLD.

Buste de femme (MFA 44, Delteil 45, Adhemar 5). Original softground etching, c. 1856. Edition unknown. After Degas' death, Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours is an impression from Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20). Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Image size: 81x72mm. Price: SOLD.

The engraver Joseph Tourney (MFA 5: 6 states, D. 5, A. 7). Original etching, c. 1856. Edition: 7 proofs. After Degas' death. Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours is an impression from Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20). Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Tourney, a prize-winning etcher, was Degas' friend and one of his etching teachers. Image size: 228x143mm. Price: SOLD

Dancers in the wings (MFA 47: 8 states, Delteil 26, Adhemar 28). Original etching, aquatint, and drypoint, 1879-1880. 20 proofs from the first 9 states. After Degas' death. Vollard published an edition of 150 impressions from the cancelled plate. Ours is an impression from Vollard's edition (c. 1919-20). Degas' etchings are extremely rare, and there has been constant demand for Vollard's edition. Image size: 140x104mm. Price: SOLD.