Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000333Diego Martelli
by Edgar Degas
About the Artwork
This sheet is one of many studies that Degas made in 1879 of his friend and supporter, the Italian art critic and patron Diego Martelli (1839-1896). Martelli was one of the most important champions of progressive modern art in Italy, and his writings on the 1879 Impressionist show became famous, playing a crucial role in publicizing the movement. This sheet relates to two painted portraits of the critic, one in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, and the other in the National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires.
Inscriptions
stamped in red, at lower left: Degas estate stamp (Lugt 658)
Provenance
1879-1919: Estate of Edgar Degas [1834-1917], Paris 1919: (Galerie Georges Petit, third Degas sale, Paris, April 8-9, 1919, no. 160.1, probably sold to Georges Viau) probably 1919-?: Georges Viau [1855-1939], Paris ?-?: Mme. Demotte, Paris ?-?: B. Natanson, Paris by 1950-1953: (Victor D. Spark, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1953-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959). Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961). Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966). Drawings by Edgar Degas. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (January 20-February 26, 1967); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (March 10-April 30, 1967); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (May 16-June 25, 1967). Degas 1879. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (August 13-September 30, 1979). Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980). The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982). National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983). Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Edgar Degas and the Italians in Paris. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland (December 12, 2003-February 29, 2004).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
- Date
- 1879
- Medium
- charcoal and white chalk
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 44 x 31.3 cm (17 5/16 x 12 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1953.268
More by Edgar Degas in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00000333
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