Drawings & Watercolours
Diego Martelli
Temporary ExhibitionDrawing
Details
- Author / creator
- Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
- Object type
- Drawing
- Date or period
- 1879
- Dimensions summary
- Sheet: 44 × 31.3 cm
- Place of origin
- France
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Public appeal (1998), 1953
- Paper / support
- Laid paper
About this object
This sheet is one of many studies that Degas made in 1879 of his friend and supporter, the Italian art critic and patron Diego Martelli (1839-1896). Martelli was one of the most important champions of progressive modern art in Italy, and his writings on the 1879 Impressionist show became famous, playing a crucial role in publicizing the movement. This sheet relates to two painted portraits of the critic, one in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the other in the National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires.
Materials and technique
Charcoal and white chalk
Signature and marks
stamped in red, at lower left: Degas estate stamp (Lugt 658)
