Degas and Manzi's Vingt dessins: An Experimental Collaboration in Print

Introduction

Vingt dessins is a curated selection of twenty drawings, chosen from throughout Edgar Degas’ career, meant to engage the viewer in contemplation on his growth as a draftsman and skill in quality of line. [i] Intellectual, diligent and uncompromising, Degas worked with Michel Manzi, a Neapolitan printmaker to create highly substantive reproductions of his drawings, published in 1897.[ii], [iii] Meant to function as a means to communicate the nuances of craft to the viewer, the works were reproduced via chromogravure, which Manzi perfected while working for Goupil et Cie., and thus their selection, reproduction and dissemination should be read as a part of Degas’ output, and a means by which the aging artist meant to shape his legacy.[iv]

The reproductive medium of chromogravure led Vingt dessins to be often dismissed by scholars, and only occasionally studied.[v] But contrary to this preemptive dismissal, the concept of experimentation with media and the intersections between technology and art-making preoccupied Degas throughout his career, and as such, Vingt dessins must be reconsidered in this light. The publication was not a solo effort, but rather a collaborative one, between Degas and Manzi, and thus Vingt dessins also provides the opportunity to reflect the role of collaboration in the oeuvre of an artist who is often considered (and not entirely without reason) a perfectionist and social misanthrope. The product, Vingt dessins, a published retrospective of Degas’ career as a draftsman, emphasizes his interest in curating his own legacy and the role that Manzi took in helping him to shape it.

 

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