Getty Museum

Brothel Scene

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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Object Description · Getty Museum

Expressions and gestures fascinated Edgar Degas, and he used both to focus on the relationship between a madam and a soldier in this brothel scene. Although only carelessly sketching, he still managed to give the episode an air of relaxed camaraderie. The woman gestures casually, lifting the edge of her skirt as she speaks. The soldier leans back easily in his chair with his arms wrapped around his knees, swinging his legs like a young boy. Edmond de Goncourt's novel *La Fille Elisa* (The Girl Elisa) was published in March 1877 and quickly caught Degas's attention. In the same year, Degas sketched several drawings based on its events in his notebook. The book tells the tragic story of a girl who becomes a prostitute, first in the country and then in a poor quarter of Paris near the École Militaire. She later falls in love with a soldier and murders him in a rage.

Getty Museum’s catalogue record

produced_by.carried_out_by[0].id: https://data.getty.edu/museum/collection/person/8b37c957-95e3-4a45-b819-50e0bcc226d8
Artist/Maker: Edgar Degas
subject_of[Homepage].id: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108E19
Date: about 1877
Culture: French
Object Type: Drawing

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Object ID: f7ac73d3-3a63-4251-a894-11297f7dfacc
Object Type: Drawing
Getty Museum field “Object Type” · copied as is
Creator: Edgar Degas
Getty Museum field “Artist/Maker” · copied as is
Culture: French
Getty Museum field “Culture” · copied as is
Department: Drawings
Getty Museum field “Department” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field · Getty's classification category is stored as department.
Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Getty Museum field “Standard Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
Getty Museum field “Source Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
Date: about 1877
Getty Museum field “Date” · copied as is
Begin Year: 1877
Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.begin_of_the_begin” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field
End Year: 1877
Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.end_of_the_end” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field

The museum’s own record has not been captured for this object yet, so the museum fields shown above are limited to values LinkedCulture stored unchanged.

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