Youth with Arms Upraised

The detailed Youth with Arms Upraised is an important early drawing by Edgar Degas, executed between 1859 and 1862. During this foundational period, Degas was intensely studying the Old Masters and focusing on rigorous anatomical drawing, a practice typical of his conservative academic training at the École des Beaux-Arts and during his subsequent years in Italy. The medium utilized for this study is black chalk applied meticulously over preliminary pencil sketches on fine beige paper, demonstrating a commitment to precise draftsmanship.

The figure depicted is a young male nude, standing with his arms lifted high above his head, a pose that emphasizes the complex interplay of musculature across the torso, abdomen, and shoulders. This specific type of preparatory academic study, known as an académie, was central to 19th-century French art education, where mastery of the human form was paramount for any aspiring artist. Degas utilized the black chalk primarily to define volume through deep shadow and careful cross-hatching, making this drawing a powerful example of his precision before he fully shifted toward the contemporary subjects that characterized his later Impressionist period.

This piece represents the artist’s gradual transition from strict Neoclassicism toward the observational fluidity that would define his mature career. These academic efforts were crucial stepping stones, and the study remains highly valuable for tracing his technical development. Today, this drawing is permanently housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As a historical work of art, high-quality prints derived from this early male nudes drawing are often made available through public domain archives, allowing widespread access to Degas’s foundational technical skills.