Young Woman and Ibis, 1857… or 1860–62? Oil on canvas, 40×30″
Thanks to Jennifer Small for sending this in response to yesterday’s post about Degas’ failed historical paintings. This one was painted some time between 1857 and 1862 (dates differ), which was around the same time as he was working on the other historical paintings.
Paintings and dates:
The Daughter of Jephtha 1860
The Daughter of Jephtha study 1860
Young Spartans Exercising 1860
Young Spartan Girls Challenging Boys 1860
Young Woman with Ibis 1861
Bucephalus 1861
At the Stables, Horse and Dog 1861
Semiramis Building Babylon 1861
Portrait of Madame Edmondo Morbilli 1865
Scene of War in the Middle Ages 1865
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
http://art-Degas.com
Young Woman and Ibis seems unresolved, the landscape separate, the birds and flowers stuck on after everything else had already been half painted. He was trapped. Haven’t we all tried to save a scene by putting a bird on it? And the red-orange birds are a color complementary to the blue-green cloth. Clearly he knew the additions weren’t solving his problems. He was reaching for the easy tricks, and he knew it. He made a quick rough pass of thick desperate “fuck it” paint taken right off the palette, and stopped. I imagine he was thinking about other paintings, and how this or that move could work somewhere else, but not here. Young Woman with Ibis is a weird (yet lovely) painting. It’s nice to see that even the best painters have their puzzles they couldn’t solve.
“Degas made sketches of this composition in a notebook he used during his second stay in Rome in 1857–58. Originally conceived as a depiction of a pensive woman, the picture assumed a mysterious air when Degas added the imaginary Middle Eastern cityscape, the pink flowers, and the two red ibises around 1860–62. About the same time he also considered adding the brilliant birds to his large historical painting Semiramis Building Babylon.” – MetMuseum
Semiramis Building Babylon
The Paint like Degas 2 day workshop starts this Saturday. Artists are welcome to make studies in charcoal, pastel, monotype, or if they’re very very brave: paint. We’ll have a model on the first day, and we’ll work from photographs on the second, like Degas did. What would you enjoy?
The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn created nearly one hundred self portraits during his 63 years of life. Roughly 40 of these self portraits were oil paintings. The rest were drawings and etchings. This was, and is, a fairly unusual number of self portraits for an artist without a smartphone. He might have made self portraits to practice rendering …
Anthony Eyton was born May 17, 1923. He is a British figurative painter working in the post-Impressionist tradition. He started studying art in 1941, his studies delayed by the war, and then returned to his education at the Camberwell School of Art, completing in 1950. Eyton was Head of Painting at St Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario in …
Gilbert Stuart’s Unfinished Portrait of George Washington Gilbert Stuart first painted George Washington in 1795 (in a work now known only from copies). That painting was so successful that, according to artist Rembrandt Peale, Martha Washington “wished a Portrait for herself.” She persuaded her husband to sit again for Stuart “on the express condition that …
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …
Degas put an Ibis on it
Thanks to Jennifer Small for sending this in response to yesterday’s post about Degas’ failed historical paintings. This one was painted some time between 1857 and 1862 (dates differ), which was around the same time as he was working on the other historical paintings.
Paintings and dates:
Young Woman and Ibis seems unresolved, the landscape separate, the birds and flowers stuck on after everything else had already been half painted. He was trapped. Haven’t we all tried to save a scene by putting a bird on it? And the red-orange birds are a color complementary to the blue-green cloth. Clearly he knew the additions weren’t solving his problems. He was reaching for the easy tricks, and he knew it. He made a quick rough pass of thick desperate “fuck it” paint taken right off the palette, and stopped. I imagine he was thinking about other paintings, and how this or that move could work somewhere else, but not here. Young Woman with Ibis is a weird (yet lovely) painting. It’s nice to see that even the best painters have their puzzles they couldn’t solve.
“Degas made sketches of this composition in a notebook he used during his second stay in Rome in 1857–58. Originally conceived as a depiction of a pensive woman, the picture assumed a mysterious air when Degas added the imaginary Middle Eastern cityscape, the pink flowers, and the two red ibises around 1860–62. About the same time he also considered adding the brilliant birds to his large historical painting Semiramis Building Babylon.” – MetMuseum
The Paint like Degas 2 day workshop starts this Saturday. Artists are welcome to make studies in charcoal, pastel, monotype, or if they’re very very brave: paint. We’ll have a model on the first day, and we’ll work from photographs on the second, like Degas did. What would you enjoy?
Sign up for Draw, Sketch, Print, Paint like Degas.
Related Posts
Rembrandt’s Self Portrait Drawings
The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn created nearly one hundred self portraits during his 63 years of life. Roughly 40 of these self portraits were oil paintings. The rest were drawings and etchings. This was, and is, a fairly unusual number of self portraits for an artist without a smartphone. He might have made self portraits to practice rendering …
Variety in Anthony Eyton’s Chairs
Anthony Eyton was born May 17, 1923. He is a British figurative painter working in the post-Impressionist tradition. He started studying art in 1941, his studies delayed by the war, and then returned to his education at the Camberwell School of Art, completing in 1950. Eyton was Head of Painting at St Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario in …
Day 12: Gilbert Stuart’s Unfinished Portrait of George Washington #30SAL
Gilbert Stuart’s Unfinished Portrait of George Washington Gilbert Stuart first painted George Washington in 1795 (in a work now known only from copies). That painting was so successful that, according to artist Rembrandt Peale, Martha Washington “wished a Portrait for herself.” She persuaded her husband to sit again for Stuart “on the express condition that …
Online Anniversary Show: Shapes in Flight
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …