Self-Portrait

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

A work of surprising sophistication for a relatively young practitioner of the art, this etching was clearly inspired by the early graphic self-portraits of Rembrandt. Degas gleaned from the Baroque master his capacity to create an atmosphere from which a convincing presence emerges. This probing self-appraisal was made when the artist was only twenty-three years old. The maturity of Degas’s gaze is matched by the sophistication of his technique. He has printed this etching with a personalized, rich wiping of the plate that anticipates his later work in monotypes.

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