Print authentication:Edgar Degas
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Edgar Degas.
Biography of artist: Edgar Degas started producing prints in the 1850s while studying great masters such as Rembrandt and Ingres. By the 1870s, Degas had grown more comfortable with printmaking and integrated his own style into the process. While Degas started-off making etchings he later focused on lithograph and monotype prints, also referred to as printed drawings.
The Star. Monotype and pastel. c. 1876 -78
(Heads of) Man and Woman. Monotype. c. 1877
Degas is known for innovating and popularizing the monotype process in collaboration with Ludovic Lepic. Degas often embellished his finished prints with white chalk or color pastel. Like his paintings and drawings, Degas prints often depict ballet dancers, cabaret performers, laundresses, etc.
Madame Cardinal Scolding an Admirer. Monotype. 1880
Two Dancers Entering the Stage. Pastel over monotype. c. 1877
The Fireside. Monotype. c. 1876-77
Edgar Degas printed and published many of his own works rather than relying on larger publishing and printing houses like most artists. Many of the prints that came from his studio will have an oval stamp with the words “Atelier E.D. Degas.” Collectors or collaborators would often add their stamp or monogram. Final prints published during the artist’s lifetime are usually hand-signed in pencil.