Landscape

Although Degas’s depictions of nature are among his lesser-known works, he was a talented landscape artist, as this vibrant pastel indicates. The rich range of greens creates a velvet-like effect. Earth tones differentiate the undulating hills. The paper support, though discolored from pink to tan, still lends a sense of warmth. The pastel on this sheet covers a unique printed image made by the artist. Degas produced many color monotypes in this period. However, while some of the prints were nearly abstract, here the scene is more legible. Juxtapositions of printed and hand-applied colors show Degas’s reworking. The winding road, for instance, was scored in with a brush handle.