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Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) Sur la scène III Softground-etching, drypoint and roulette, 1876-77, on thick white wove paper, a fine and strong impression of the fourth state (of five), the full sheet, with a deckle edge at left, in very good conditionPlate 99 x 127mm. (3 3/4 x 5in.); Sheet 245 x 325mm. (9 5/8 x 12 6/8in.) unframed image 1
Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) Sur la scène III Softground-etching, drypoint and roulette, 1876-77, on thick white wove paper, a fine and strong impression of the fourth state (of five), the full sheet, with a deckle edge at left, in very good conditionPlate 99 x 127mm. (3 3/4 x 5in.); Sheet 245 x 325mm. (9 5/8 x 12 6/8in.) unframed image 2
Lot 34

Edgar Degas
(French, 1834-1917)
Sur la scène III unframed

18 December 2018, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £10,625 inc. premium

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Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

Sur la scène III (Delteil 32; Adhemar 26; Reed & Shapero 24)
Softground-etching, drypoint and roulette, 1876-77, on thick white wove paper, a fine and strong impression of the fourth state (of five), the full sheet, with a deckle edge at left, in very good condition

Plate 99 x 127mm. (3 3/4 x 5in.); Sheet 245 x 325mm. (9 5/8 x 12 6/8in.) (unframed)

Footnotes

Provenance
Fritz Gross Collection, London; thence by descent to the present owner.

This work was intended as an illustration to the catalogue of an exhibition organised by Les Amis des Arts de Pau, in 1877 in Pau, France. Degas had contributed two paintings to the exhibition and certainly took inspiration from one of them, Ballet at the Paris Opéra (pastel over monotype, 1877, The Art Institute of Chicago) for this print, here in its final version after two previously aborted attempts (Sur la scène I and Sur la scène II).

The artist successfully emphasizes the spatial relationship between the orchestra and the stage by drawing the tips of two double basses in the lower left corner and the cropped musicians' faces in the foreground. Although made after his painting, Degas here fully exploits the properties of various intaglio techniques to translate the atmosphere and dynamism of the scene with great vibrancy.

It is unclear how many proofs in the fourth state were made but another impression on thick paper is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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