The monotype technique was first used by artists such as Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione during the 17th Century. In the ensuing years, the process drifted into obscurity although it was used to great effect by William Blake. In the 19th century, Degas was encouraged in his experimentation by Vicomte Ludovic Lepic, a rich amateur who had taken up the eau-forte mobile, which involved variant inking of plates. Degas took Lepic's technique one step further, and began working with unetched plates which he used in both dark and light manners. In the dark manner the plate was completely inked and then the artist wiped away areas that he wished to print in white or gray; in the light manner he painted directly on the plate. Degas described the results as dessins faits avec l'encre grasse et imprimés. The outcome are indeed printed drawings. On occasion there was enough ink left to print a second or cognate impression, and these were often used as the basis for pastels. The consequence of his experimentation in monotype encouraged Degas' peers to follow suit, and Camille Pissarro, Paul Gauguin and others enthusiastically explored this technique.

EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917)

Women in a café (Femmes au café) (Adhemar and Cachin 31; Janis 60)

Details

EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917)
Women in a café (Femmes au café) (Adhemar and Cachin 31; Janis 60)
monotype in black ink, 1876-7, on Chine laid on wove paper hinged to a further support with the 'Atelier Ed. Degas' red inkstamp (Lugt 657) attached, in excellent condition, framed
S. 4 7/16 x 6½ in. (112 x 164 mm.)

Provenance

The Estate of the artist 'Vente d'estampes'.
B.C. Holland Inc., Chicago.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1986.

Literature

A. Vollard, La Maison Tellier, Paris, 1934, p. 24.

Lot Essay

This is one of Degas' earliest known monotypes and can be dated to 1876-1877. It is related to the painting Absinthe Drinker of 1876, in which the male model Marcellin Desboutin, who enters at the right edge of the current monotoype, also appears. The café depicted is the Café de la Nouvelles Athènes, a meeting place for the Impressionists on la place Pigalle.

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