The Study of a Male Nude by Edgar Degas French, 1834–1917, is a foundational work created in 1858, capturing the rigorous academic discipline central to the artist’s training. This preparatory sketch utilizes graphite on a distinctive ground: pink wove paper originally containing pink and blue fibers, which has since aged and altered to a warm buff tone. Executed during or immediately following Degas’s critical years studying the Old Masters in Italy and refining his skills in French academic traditions, the drawing demonstrates a mastery of line and shadow essential for depicting the human form.
The precise draftsmanship evident in the figure, typical of classical studies required by institutions like the École des Beaux-Arts, highlights Degas’s early commitment to anatomical accuracy and form before his subsequent evolution toward Impressionism. Though categorized within the prints collection, the piece functions primarily as a powerful drawing, emphasizing the immediacy and discipline of life study. This careful exploration of the male nude would inform the spatial understanding and figure composition of Degas’s mature works.
As an exemplary record of the artist, 1834–1917, mastering the fundamentals of dessin, this study provides essential insight into the early career of one of France’s most celebrated figures. The work resides within the esteemed collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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