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

Vingt dessins: Images and Order

Although in total the works reveal a number of significant ideas about Degas’ self-conception, it is actually plate seventeen that provides an introduction to the volume, as it displays the nuances of Degas’ working methods in pastel. The nude female form, in a pose that verges on becoming a leitmotif in his oeuvre, reaches towards her right ankle, hair done up in a bun. She is barely anchored to a simple suggestion of a space; a shadow on the floor and a few strokes adjacent to her suggest a background. The raised linear pattern and rough texture of the original laid paper evinces itself through the shading on her form, which is interspersed with assured curvilinear segments to imply a backbone and deeper shading. Degas’ manipulation of the medium manifests itself in the ochre highlights of her hair and the smudged drab shadow under her form. It is only through an intimate investigation of the surface qualities of the object does it reveal itself as a reproduction of the original. Its surface lacks the requisite chalky texture of a pastel.

The works chosen for Vingt dessins vary in drawing media, ranging from pen and ink, watercolor, and charcoal to pastel, oftentimes mixing media within the composition when necessary. Subject matter also speaks to the retrospective-mindset: studies for early history paintings are found alongside jockeys, bathers, laundresses and dancers. The order of the drawings was clearly conceived, a fact demonstrated through their titles, which give basic formal information and prompt a dialogue amongst the images, relating each one to the larger whole.

Chronologically, the works in Vingt dessins are pulled evenly from the thirty-five year span of the artist’s career. In choosing them, Degas neglected to include any drawings from his fertile student years, but instead began with five studies for the unfinished historical canvas, Semiramis Building Babylon, which remained in Degas’ studio until his death in 1917.[vi] Such a curatorial decision emphasizes Degas’ intention to underline his academically-derived, painstaking drawing practice which is echoed in artist’s own words, spoken to the novelist George Moore, “no art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.”[vii]

He reiterates this idea in these first four plates (Plate 1; Plate 2; Plate 3; Plate 4), focusing on the traditional craft of working from a nude figure and then building upon the pose, incorporating drapery into the composition. These plates are derived from drawing principles that find their origin in the Renaissance. Degas’ inclusion of these plates illustrates a clear intention to enter into dialogue with and emulate the tradition of the great draftsmen, such as Leonardo, whose oeuvre is filled with similar drawings which begin with a study of a nude figure to which drapery is later added. The fifth plate, another study for the composition, reaffirms his methodical process. In these first plates, and throughout the entirety of Vingt dessins, Degas creates a lecture in draftsmanship for the viewer, who is clearly expected to be learned in the nuances of the craft of drawing, with the intention that upon viewing the compilation, he or she will further comprehend and respect Degas’ dexterity in the medium.

While the first five plates highlight his mastery of drapery, pose and volume, the sixth and seventh move away from an emphasis on a highly nuanced work towards drawings that are freer in their handling and stress Degas’ increasing command over the essence of the figural form and deftness of expression. The sixth exhibits a highly refined study of a woman’s visage, while her body and dress are suggested through a partially-realized series of curvilinear lines. Moving beyond this is the seventh plate, which goes even further to emphasize Degas’ maturing draftsmanship because it is a study of the essence of the figure. The focus is on the jockey and his pose astride the horse, which is only barely sketched in, functioning as a compositional marker. The shadows and highlights help accent the volumetric form of the pose. This sense of modeling is again reconsidered through the delicate forms created through the washes used in the suggestion of the bustle of the model’s dress in plate eleven. Similarly, plate thirteen suggests a greater sense of confidence in Degas’ handling of the linear aspects of the composition, introducing a potential energy in the sketchy, delicate forms of the ballerinas, stretching before a practice or performance.

Plate eight is one of the most finished drawings in the collection, but illustrates a different side of Degas’ curatorial license; perhaps finding the blue of the laundresses’ skirt too distracting in the original drawing, Degas and Manzi decided to print the image on pink paper using only two colors: brown and white. Such a choice allows the work to distance itself from nuances of subject matter, and instead focus the viewer’s attention on the quality of Degas’ draftsmanship. Such a decision is clearly authorial in intent, as it is the only example of a palette-shift in the volume, perhaps stemming from Degas’ interest in emphasizing the craft of drawing through the reproductions of Vingt dessins.

A wash around the exterior of the figure in plate nine underscores a proficient working method, simultaneously accentuating the Ingresque outline of form and creating a convincing sense of space. Such a treatment pictorially underscores Degas’ debt to the draftsmanship tradition of Ingres, recalled in Pissarro’s reaction to the prints [addressed below]. Also evoking the craft of drawing, plates ten and twelve are squared for transfer, reminding the viewer of the function of drawings in service to larger projects.[viii] In a similar manner, plate fourteen stresses the role of drawings in Degas’ larger oeuvre. In this work Degas reproduces for the viewer a common trope in many of his notebook sketches: notations on color and composition for future projects. Through the inclusion of the figures squared for transfer and a drawing with notations, Degas emphasizes the function of drawings as works in their own right as well as their invaluable role in service to larger considerations.

Building upon the references to color through notation in plate fourteen, fifteen moves beyond mere notation to a complete study in color, including its implications on composition and specific nuances of pose. In the repeated studies of the dancer’s feet, Degas experiments with the relationships between color and form, toying with different relationships between the color of the ballet slippers and background, so that their color can function in service to pose and form. In the same plate, Degas considers throwing out his traditionally-Ingresque emphasis on the linearity of the dancer’s legs and feet, in favor of the suggestion of form and line through the edges of planes of color in the dancer’s costume.

In addition to issues of process, there seems to be a secondary conversation culled from the plates: growth and discourse within Degas’ oeuvre. Plates sixteen and seventeen are reminiscent of the early drapery studies, which themselves rest on the shoulders of tradition, but here Degas has reversed the traditional order of creation. In this case, the clothed figure is followed by the nude. Such a comparison allows the viewer to ascertain a sense of growth and development in Degas’ draftsmanship. Here Degas utilizes thicker lines, a stronger emphasis towards the planar effects of tonality, and much greater assurance in his own skill.  

Plate eighteen elevates the study of color even further, pairing Degas’ command over aspects of draftsmanship and color with his proficiency in a range of media, exemplified here in his faculty with pastels. In addition the print, more so than any other reproduction in the series, fully epitomizes the mimeographic quality of a chromogravure reproduction. The texture and gradation of color created by the pastel is perfectly reproduced in the print. The reproductive process becomes transparent, allowing the essence of the original medium to shine.

Plate nineteen reveals Degas’ emulation of tradition in the elongated nude female form. It is in direct dialogue with Ingres’ works, such as The Valpinçon Bather, while at the same time showing Degas’ mastery of media, combining charcoal, white highlights and pastels to establish a convincing sense of depth.[ix]

Plate twenty was used by Degas to comment on his mature style and its minimal approach to composition. Structurally cropped, it accentuates the curvilinear, Ingresque quality of line. It stands as a bookend to plate one, demonstrating the growth of Degas’ style. While his early works allow for a contemplation of his continued attempts to master tradition and find a way to insert himself into the canon, the final plate illustrates the work of a draftsman who has emulated tradition, ingested it and moved beyond basic concepts into his own style.

This page has paths:

This page references: