Two Women

c. 1878/1880

Edgar Degas

Associated Names
Edgar Degas

Artist, French, 1834 - 1917

This is a drawing depicting two women standing next to each other in different positions. The woman on the left is standing upright and looking to the left with her hands behind her back, while the one on the right is bending slightly forward, looking at a small orange flower she holds in her hand. The women look almost identical, with pale skin and brown hair styled in updos, and they both wear pink dresses with blue bodices and collars. The background is a room with walls in shades of brown, orange and yellow ochre. To the right of the women, there are two blue vases on a white table or mantle, with a golden object between them, perhaps a clock. In the bottom left corner is a large red-orange armchair with its back to us. A similar armchair is across from it, behind the women.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pastel over watercolor and charcoal on tan laid paper, mounted to board

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

  • Dimensions

    overall: 29.21 × 44.45 cm (11 1/2 × 17 1/2 in.)
    framed: 47.63 × 63.5 × 6.35 cm (18 3/4 × 25 × 2 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2014.136.176

More About this Artwork

This is a drawing depicting two women standing next to each other in different positions. The woman on the left is standing upright and looking to the left with her hands behind her back, while the one on the right is bending slightly forward, looking at a small orange flower she holds in her hand. The women look almost identical, with pale skin and brown hair styled in updos, and they both wear pink dresses with blue bodices and collars. The background is a room with walls in shades of brown, orange and yellow ochre. To the right of the women, there are two blue vases on a white table or mantle, with a golden object between them, perhaps a clock. In the bottom left corner is a large red-orange armchair with its back to us. A similar armchair is across from it, behind the women.

Article:  Edgar Degas's Experiments in Pastel and Watercolor

A conservator examines how the impressionist made a curious drawing.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Estate of William A. Clark; Bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art; Stored at John Handley High School in Winchester, VA from 1942-1944; Acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1959

  • Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, 1959, 32.

1978

  • The William A. Clark Collection, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, April 26 - July 16, 116, no. 96.

1983

  • Sargent's Contemporaries, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 4 June - 28 August 1983, unpublished checklist, no. 8.

2000

  • Degas and America: The Early Collectors, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, February 3-May 27, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, June 16-Septemeber 9, no. 39.

2015

  • Focus on the Corcoran: Works on Paper, 1860-1990, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2015.

2019

  • The Touch of Color: Pastels at the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019 - 2020, unnumbered catalogue.

Bibliography

1927

  • Manson, JB. The Life and Works of Edgar Degas. London, The Studio, Pl. 57 (repr.).

1946

  • Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son Oeuvre. 4 vols. Paris, 1946-1949: 2:280-281, no. 434.

1948

  • Dumont, Henri. Degas. New York, 1948: 9 (repr.).

2019

  • Schulman, Michael.Edgar Degas, Digital Critical Catalogue. MS-1997.

Inscriptions

lower right in chalk: "Degas"

Wikidata ID

Q64556405

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