Getty Museum

Soirée

Creator

French Photographer · 1834–1917

Artist

> No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament . . . I know nothing. > > --Edgar Germaine Hilaire Degas From a wealthy Parisian family, Degas devoted himself exclusively to painting without needing to sell a canvas. His training was conventional: he spent five years in Italy, studied the O

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Date: about 1877
Medium: Drawing
Culture: French
Department: Drawings
Institution: Getty Museum

Edgar Degas spent many evenings at the homes of friends, discussing ideas with fellow artists, philosophers, and authors. Over two pages of his sketchbook, he drew a *soirée* in the home of Madame Charles Hayem, who reclines on the sofa, coquettishly holding a fan to her face. The writer Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly stands before a fireplace in the center; seated on a stool with his back to the viewer is the philosopher Adolphe Francke. To the right of Barbey, Degas began to sketch a fourth figure with long, straight hair and perhaps a beard. On the far left, he experimented with another drawing of Barbey facing to the right in a long embroidered coat, holding a sword. Degas extensively erased and reworked the sketch as he experimented with different coat lengths and angles for the sword.

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