Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Degas -Forgeries-, The Urban Myth at the Portland Museum of Art

UPDATED: April 3, 2012

NOTE:  Footnotes are enclosed as [FN ].

Edgar Degas (France, 1834-1917), Position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche (Fourth position front, on the left leg), circa 1882-1895, cast 1919-1921, bronze, 22 3/4 inches high, Lent by Mildred Otten, The Albert Otten Collection, 10.1993.10.
http://www.maineartmuseums.org/PMA.php#
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobtravis/644420600/
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

The Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA., contains:
  • two non-disclosed posthumous [after 1919] 3rd-generation-removed brass [not bronze] sculptural forgeries, with counterfeit signatures, falsely attributed as original works of visual art ie., "sculptures" with misleading dates that predate Degas' death, 
  • seventeen non-disclosed posthumous [after 1919] re-strike forgeries, falsely attributed as original works of visual art ie.,  "etchings" with misleading dates that predate Degas' death, 
  • six non-disclosed posthumous [1934-1935] chromist-made reproductions misleadingly represented as: "photogravure etchings and aquatint," and
  • four non-disclosed lifetime reproductions by William Thornley and Auguste Clot misrepresented as an original works of visual art ie., lithographs.
On page 660 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 1]

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The dead don't sculpt or etch.

Reproductions [that by definition can't be not done by a living artist, much less a dead one] versus original works of visual art ie.,  -lithographs or etchings- [that are created by hand by the artist]  are not interchangeable, much less the same.

This monograph will not only document these contentious issues of authenticity with this Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art but the museum's violation of its' own endorsed ethical guidelines by exhibiting these inauthentic or counterfeit works.




Edgar Degas, France, 1834-1917, Position de quatrième devant sur la jambe gauche (Fourth position in front on the left leg), Circa 1882-1895, bronze with dark patina
height: 22 3/4", Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Lent by Leslie B. Otten, 10.2002.12
http://www.portlandmuseum.org/exhibitions-collections/collection/otten_gallery.shtml#
Photo: http://www.maineartmuseums.org/PMA.php#
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

TWO POSTHUMOUS SCULPTURAL  FORGERIES
FIRST of two non-disclosed posthumous [after 1919] sculptural brass [not bronze] forgeries, falsely attributed to a dead Edgar Degas [d 1917] with a fraudulent "1882-1895" date, on loan from a collector to the museum and exhibition, is the titled: Position de quatrieme devant sur la jambe gauche [Fourth position in front of the left leg].

Yet, the Portland Museum of Art and Landau Traveling Exhibitions would have the public believe and act on that belief, for the $12 price per adult admission, that they would be in the presence of an authentic Edgar Degas lifetime bronze sculpture.

Edgar Degas never cast his sculptures in bronze, much less in brass.

Here are just five references that confirm this and other devastating facts surrounding these non-disclosed posthumous brass forgeries:

DEGAS' TRUE INTENT
On page 95 of the College Art Association’s published spring 1995 “art journal,” in a Degas Bronzes? article by Roger J. Crum, the author wrote: “In Wilken’s essay we read that in 1921 Francois Thiebault-Sisson recalled that Degas had once said: I modeled animals and people in wax for my own satisfaction, not to take to rest from painting or drawing, but to give more expression, more spirit, and more life to my paintings and drawings. They are exercises to get me started. My sculptures will never give that impression of completion that is the ultimate goal of the statue-maker’s trade and since, after all, no one will ever see these efforts, no one should think of speaking about them, not even you. After my death all that will fall apart by itself, and that will be better for my reputation. (p. 23).”[FN 2]

DEGAS NEVER CAST HIS SCULPTURE
On page 180 in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1998 Degas at the Races catalogue,  in Daphne S. Barbour’s and Shelly G. Sturman’s “The Horse in Wax and Bronze” essay, these authors wrote: “Degas never cast his sculpture in bronze, claiming that it was a “tremendous responsibility to leave anything behind in bronze -- the medium is for eternity.”[FN 3]

2ND TO 3RD GENERATION REMOVED
On page 78 of the “Degas; The Sculptures” essay by Hirshhorn Curator of Sculpture Valerie J. Fletcher, published in Ann Dumas and David A. Brenneman’s 2001 Degas and America The Early Collectors catalogue, the author wrote: “In 1919-20 Hebrard’s founder Albino Palazzolo, made a first set of {Degas} bronzes. -- Those 'masters' served to make molds for casting edition of twenty-two bronzes. Technically, all bronzes except the master set are surmoulages.”'[FN 4]

COUNTERFEIT DEGAS SIGNATURES
On page 32-33 in Charles W. Milliard’s 1976 The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, the author wrote: “Each cast is stamped with the legend 'cire perdue A.A. Hebrard' in relief, and incised with the signature ‘Degas.’” Later on page 34, the author wrote: “At least some of the casts were set on wooden bases into which the signature “Degas” was burned.”[FN 5]

BRASS NOT BRONZE
This metallurgical discovery is confirmed on page 26 of the National Gallery of Art’s published 2010 Edgar Degas Sculptures catalogue, in the “Degas’ Bronzes Analyzed” essay by Shelly G. Sturman and Daphne S. Barbour. In part, the authors wrote: “Analysis of the elemental surface composition of the National Gallery sculptures was performed using X R F, a noninvasive technique. An alloy of copper and zinc with low to medium tin and traces of lead was used to cast all the sculptures. Results were also compared to X R F analysis undertaken at the Norton Simon Museum on the bronze modeles and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on some of the serial A set as well. - Bronze is a misnomer for these sculptures, because they are all cast from brass (copper and zinc with tin).”[FN 6]


Edgar Degas [French, 1834-1917], Head, Study of the Portrait of Mademoiselle's, c. 1892-95, bronze sculpture, Image size in: 7 x 5 x 4", Frane size in: Entire Case Size with base: 18 x 9 x 9"
Sources: Degaslistfinal.pdf  and  http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/images/
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS BRASS FORGERY

SECOND of two non-disclosed posthumous [after 1919] sculptural brass [not bronze] forgeries, falsely attributed to a dead Edgar Degas [d 1917] with a fraudulent "1892-1895" date, in this Landau Traveling Exhibitions, is the titled: Head, Study of the Portrait of Mademoisell's bronze from the collection of Robert Flynn Johnson.

The Portland Museum of Art and the Landau Traveling Exhibitions are perpetuating, for admission fees, corporate sponsorships and other monetary considerations, an Urban Legend/Myth that Edgar Degas cast in bronze, much less brass or that anything cast, much less posthumously, is a sculpture.

What is an Urban Legend/Myth?

An -Urban Legend/Myth-, referencing  University of Utah professor emeritus of English Jan Harold Brunvand’s Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends[FN 7] book,  is defined on Wikipedia's website as: “a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.”[FN 8]

This troubling practice, to perpetuate these non-disclosed posthumous third-generation-removed brass forgeries have "some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it," is confirmed by the Portland Museum of Art on their online posted 2012 "Art to See Now, Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist" press release, where the museum states the exhibition comprises: "several sculptures"[FN 9], one of which is titled: "Degas’ Fourth Position in front on the left leg" and the other from the Landau Traveling Exhibitions is titled: Head, Study of the Portrait of Mademoiselle's.

Then to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, in the Portland Museum of Art's press release the museum additional states: "the exhibition will provide an insightful exploration of the oeuvre of one of the most skilled and complex artists in art history."[FN 10]

On page 922 of Random House's College Dictionary, -oeuvre- is defined as: "the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole."[FN 11]

Edgar Degas died in 1917.  The posthumous forging in brass, however many generations removed, did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't oeuvre. 

J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 12]

Once again, Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging in brass, however many generations removed, did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't give permission.




Self Portrait, Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), 1857,  etching and drypoint, Sheet: h:31.50 w:22.60 cm (h:12 3/8 w:8 7/8 inches) Platemark - h:23.00 w:14.50 cm (h:9 w:5 11/16 inches), John L. Severance Fund, Accession No.: 2004.87, Inscription: Lower left margin, in litho crayon: á Bartholomé / Degas [Cleveland Museum of Art's collection]
http://www.clevelandart.org/collections/collection%20online.aspx?type=refresh&searchoption=1&csearch=Artist%20/%20Maker:Edgar%20Degas%20(French,%201834-1917)
AUTHENTIC LIFETIME ETCHING BY DEGAS

The above is an authentic lifetime etching by Edgar Degas.

On the Cleveland Museum of  Art’s website, it gives the following description for the above authentic lifetime Edgar Degas created Self-Portrait etching in their collection: “At the beginning of his career, Edgar Degas frequently used himself as a model for portrait drawings and oil paintings, though this is his only self-portrait in a print medium. Degas almost certainly executed this study of himself holding a pencil and sheet of paper in 1857 in Rome, where he had gone to study art. Since he had made only a few etchings previously, he had difficulty biting the copper printing plate in acid. Although some accidental biting is visible, the artist also experimented with bitten tone to achieve darker areas within the figure and a rich, shadowy background. Degas studied Rembrandt’s prints, and like the master, he wiped the printing ink off the surface of the plate carefully, yet differently, for each impression, thereby modeling the figure in light and shade, enhancing the atmospheric quality of the background, and allowing the eyes, clearly drawn, to look directly at the viewer. The result is an intensely powerful, psychological portrait of the artist at age 23. This impression of this very rare print (there are only about ten known impressions) is inscribed to the artist’s friend, the sculptor Paul-Albert Bartholomé.”

Now compare below the posthumously forged impression, from Edgar Degas' canceled plate, falsely attributed to a dead Edgar Degas in the Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA.




Edgar Degas [French, 1834-1917], Edgar Degas: Self-Portrait, 1857, etching and drypoint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 10 1/2 x 7", Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
SOURCES: Degaslistfinal.pdf  and  http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/images/
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

SEVENTEEN POSTHUMOUS RESTRIKE FORGERIES
The Landau Traveling Exhibition's checklist, for their Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle exhibition, makes the representation for seventeen non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as original works of visual art ie., etchings from cancel plates with dates [1857-1880] that all predate Edgar Degas' death in 1917:

  1. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), The Engraver, Joseph Tourny, 1857, Etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 9 1/2 x 6 1/4" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
  2. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Self-Portrait, 1857, Etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 10 1/2 x 7" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
  3. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Mlle, Nathalie Wolkonska, ca. 1860-61, Etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 5 1/2 x 4 5/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
  4. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Marguerite Degas, The Artist's Sister, ca. 1860-62, Etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 13 7/8  x 11" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1"
  5. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Manet Seated, Turned to the Left, ca. 1854-65, Etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 7 1/2 x 5 1/2" Frame size in: 20 7/8 x 15 7/8 x 3/4" 
  6. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Manet Seated, Turned to the Right, ca. 1864-65, Etching and drypoint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 16 7/8 x 12 1/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  7. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Edouard Manet, Bust-Length Portrait, ca. 1864-65, Etching, drypoint, and aquatint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 6 x 5" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 4 3/4" 
  8. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Alphonse Hirsch, 1875, Drypoint and aquatint, Restrike edition, Image size in: 7 5/8 x 5 3/4" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  9. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), On Stage III, ca. 1876-77, Softground etching, drypoint, and roulette, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 9 7/8 x 12 5/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1"
  10. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Two Dancers in a Rehearsal Room, Aquatint, drypoint and scraping, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 12 5/8 x 9 7/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  11. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Leaving the Bath, ca. 1879-80, Drypoint and aquatint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 13 3/4 x 10 7/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  12. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Head and Shoulders of a Young Woman in Profile, ca 1879, Soft ground etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in:13 x 9 3/4" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  13. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Seated Woman in a Bonnet and Shawl, ca 1879, Aquatint, drypoint and scraping, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 13 x 10" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  14. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), At the Cafe Des Ambassadeurs, ca. 1879-80, Drypoint, aquatint and softground etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 9 7/8 x 12 7/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  15. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Actresses in the Dressing Room, ca. 1879-80, Etching and aquatint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 9 3/4 x 12 5/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  16. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Mary Cassatt at the Louvre the Etruscan Gallery, 1879-80, Softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and etching, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 12 x 9 7/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1" 
  17. [of 17] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Paintings Gallery, 1879-80, Etching, softground etching, aquatint, and drypoint, from the canceled plate, Image size in: 12 7/8 x 9 7/8" Frame size in: 21 x 16 x 1"
The Landau Traveling Exhibition's representation, for their so-called Edgar Degas "etchings" with 1857 to 1880 dates, is contradicted by the following disclosure "after death" and "1919-20 from these three sources:

1. On the Spaightwood Galleries' website, it states: "Degas was a dedicated print collector (at his death he owned 1700 Daumier lithographs and 1900 prints by Gavarni). He made etchings, for the most part, from live subjects, sketching with an etching needle on a copperplate, and printed to please himself. Most of his prints are known only because after his death, his dealer, Ambroise Vollard, printed editions of 150 from the cancelled plates found in his studio."[FN 13]

2. On the Pasquale Iannetti Art Gallery's website, it states: "An edition of 150 impressions was printed for Ambroise Vollard circa 1919-20 from 21 copper plates which had been etched by Degas between 1855 and 1884, but which had since been canceled."[FN 14]

3. On JD Smith Fine Art's website, it states: "The original copper plate [for The Laundresses] was executed in 1879-80. This is a fine impression of Reed and Shapiro's fourth state after cancellation of the plate.  It was printed as part of Ambroise Vollard's 1919 edition of ~150 impressions from Degas' cancelled plates.  Catalog raisonne reference:  Reed and Shapiro, Edgar Degas:  The Painter as Printmaker, 48.  Adhemar and Cachin, Degas:  The Complete Etchings, Lithographs and Monotypes, 32."[FN 15]


Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.
 

The dead don't etch.

LATER IMPRESSIONS ARE USUALLY NOT THE DESIRE OF THE ARTIST
As for printing impressions from canceled plates,  JD Smith Fine Art, on their website, states: "When an artist finishes printing the number of impressions they want of a work (the total edition size), they usually “cancel” the plate. To cancel the plate, they typically scribe noticeable crosshatch or “X” lines across the plate. These lines cross the image and will show up on any later impressions made from the plate. The lines indicate that any later impressions were not part of the original edition. Cancelling a plate is the best way an artist has to protect the value of the impressions in the official edition.  - Usually impressions from cancelled plates are done by a dealer or printer to make additional money from a popular artist’s work. These later impressions are usually not the desire of the artist."[FN 16]

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't desire anything.

So, when Edgar Degas canceled his etching plates with scratches across the plates, it was clear he was finished printing anymore impressions.  In any event, the dead Edgar Degas certainly did not approve the posthumous [after 1919] forging of one, much less 150 from those twenty-one cancelled plates.

Ambroise Vollard had no shame.

Then to go from bad to worse, the posthumous forging of these Edgar Degas' canceled plates continued after Ambroise Vollard's death on July 21, 1939. 

DEGAS PIECE MADE BY FRANK PERLS GALLERY
The A & R Gallery, located in Birmingham, UK, who is offering for sale on their website a titled The Laundress impression attributed to Edgar Degas as an "Original Etching and aquatint, Fourth state, 1879/80," makes an astonishing admission on their website:  "Our piece was made by Frank Perls Gallery of 350 N Camden Drive, Beverley Hills, California and was one of 26 etchings made in a limited edition at that time. These were printed by Lacouriere in Paris on Vieux Japan paper. The pieces from the small edition (quantity unstipulated) were made with the printers blindstamp but a number of additional printers proofs were made, of which ours is an example, without this blindstamp. The piece must be a rarity since it is hardly ever seen."[FN 17]

FRANK PERLS GALLERY OPENED IN 1939
Aside posthumous forgeries are not etchings, much less limited,  records in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System documents the Frank Perls Gallery dates "from its opening in 1939 until its closure in 1981."[FN 18] 

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates by the Frank Perls Gallery began after 1939 some twenty-two years after Edgar Degas' death.
  
The dead don't etch.

Rhetorically, the one constant throughout history of the posthumous forging of impressions from Edgar Degas' canceled plates, ignoring their enviable alteration from wear and their subjective printing by hands other than an obvious dead Edgar Degas, Ambroise Vollard, Frank Perls Gallery and others like the prior venue: Naples Museum of Art, the current venue: Portland Museum of Art, the leasing agent: Landau Traveling Exhibitions and the collector Richard Johnson, all seem to be eager to give a dead Edgar Degas [d 1917] credit for something he could have never seen.

The dead don't see.

So, aside ordinary sense, what independent professional standards and/or laws supports the premise that an artist actually has to be alive to make original works of visual art such as etchings?

THE FINISHED PRINT IS APPROVED BY THE ARTIST
Forty-seven years ago in A GUIDE TO THE COLLECTING AND CARE OF ORIGINAL PRINTS sponsored by the The Print Council of America and authored by Carl Zigrosser and Christa M. Gaehde, the authors wrote: "An original print is a work of art, the general requirements of which are: a. The artist alone has created the master image in or upon the plate, stone, wood block or other material, for the purpose of creating the print. b. The print is made from the said material, by the artist or pursuant to his directions. c. The finished print is approved by the artist."[FN 19]

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't approve.

ALL PROCESSES IN WHICH THE ARTIST DID NOT PARTICIPATE, ARE REPRODUCTIONS
Twenty-one years ago in The Fifth Edition of the Artist`s Handbook of Materials and Techniques by Ralph Mayer, the author wrote: "The major traditional graphic-arts processes of long standing and continued popularity are lithograph,  etching,  drypoint,  woodcutting or wood engraving, aquatint, and soft-ground etching. ...The term `graphic arts` excludes all forms of mechanically reproduced works photographed or redrawn on plates; all processes in which the artist did not participate to his or her fullest capacity are reproductions."[FN 20]

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't participate.

IMPRESSIONS WHOLLY EXECUTED BY HAND BY THE ARTIST
Six years ago, in U.S. Custom`s May 2006 An Informed Compliance Publication titled Works of Art, Collector`s Pieces Antiques, and Other Cultural Property, it states: "The expression original engravings, prints and lithographs means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in color, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but excluding any mechanical or photomechanical process."[FN 21]

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't wholly execute.
  



Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Centry), after Edgar Degas, Waiting for the Client, 1935 (original ca. 1879), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 8 1/8 x 6 5/8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
SOURCES: Degaslistfinal.pdf  and  http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/images/
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS REPRODUCTION

SIX POSTHUMOUS REPRODUCTIONS
The above is one of six non-disclosed posthumous chromist-made reproductions by the chromist  Maurice Potin in the Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle exhibition checklist[FN 22]. Those six non-disclosed posthumous chromist-made reproductions are listed as follows:
  1. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Le Client Serieux, 1934 (original ca. 1879), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 10 1/4 x 7 7/8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
  2. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Trois Filles Assises de Face, 1934 (original ca. 1879), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 8 1/2 x 10" Frame size In: 16 x 21 x 3/4"
  3. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Le Fete de la patronne (Grand), 1934 (original ca. 1878-79), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 9 x 9 3/4" Frame size In: 16 x 21 x 3/4"
  4. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Femmes Nues, 1935 (original ca. 1879), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 9 7/8 x 12 5/8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 1"
  5. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Waiting for the Client, 1935 (original ca. 1879), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 8 1/8 x 6 5/8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 3/4"
  6. [of 6] Maurice Potin, (French, active early 20th Century), after Edgar Degas, Femme DeBout Dans une Baignoire, 1935 (original ca. 1878), photogravue etching and aquatint after the original monotype, Image size in: 12 3/4 x 9 7/8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 1"
NOTE: In a prior March 10, 2011 DEGAS: THE PRIVATE IMPRESSIONIST Exhibition checklist, the Landau Traveling Exhibition listed sixteen "1934 Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard."[FN 23]

AAMD'S 2001 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES
Under the Association of of Art Museum Director's endorsed 2001 Professional Practices, these six non-disclosed posthumous chromist-made reproductions could not even be displayed or sold in their museum gift shop because of the inclusion of what could be inferred as a "Degas" signature in the bottom right corner of the above image titled: Waiting for the Client.
Edgar Degas died in 1917. These posthumous chromist-made reproductions were not reproduced by Maurice Potin till 1934, some 17 years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't sign.

On page 31 in the Association of Art Museum Directors' published  2001 Professional Practices in Art Museum publication, it states: "museums must clearly indicate, through the use of integral markings on the objects, as well as signs, labels, and advertising, that these items are reproductions - signatures, editions numbers, and/or foundry marks on sculpture must not appear on the reproduction. - The touting of exaggerated investment value of reproductions must be avoided because the object or work being offered for purchase is not original and the resale value is highly in doubt. - When advertising reproductions, museums should not use language implying that there is any identity of quality between the copy and the original or lead the potential buyer to believe that by purchasing any such reproduction, he or she is acquiring an original work of art."[FN 24]

Would the Portland Museum of Art referring to non-disclosed posthumous reproductions in this exhibition as: "photogravure etching and aquatint," lead the potential admission patron to believe they are purchasing a $12 ticket to view "original work of arts?"

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW
U.S. Copyright law § 101. Definitions, states: "A “work of visual art” is —  (1) a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author, or, in the case of a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author."
Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging, of his original lifetime sculptures, two to three-generations-removed in brass and from his canceled plates did not begin till after 1919, some two  or more years after Edgar Degas' death.

The dead don't create "works of visual art," much less "sign and consecutively number" and /or apply their "signature."
 
Additionally, under U.S. Copyright Law under § 101. Definitions, states: "A work of visual art does not include —  (A)(i) any poster, map, globe, chart, technical drawing, diagram, model, applied art, motion picture or other audiovisual work, book, magazine, newspaper, periodical, data base, electronic information service, electronic publication, or similar publication."[FN 25]
 
Self-servingly some collectors, museum professionals and others, in an attempt to legitimize their posthumously forgeries, have made the argument that a published book from an author's manuscript is still their work, recorded music by an artist copied to CDs and the like is still their music and therefore a reproduction, whether posthumously reproduced or not, of an artist's art is still their work.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Under U.S. Copyright Law, a “derivative work” is defined as: "a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications, which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a 'derivative work'."[FN 26]

Some have defended a collection of non-disclosed reproductions and forgeries with the argument that they are no different that an audio recordings of music.

Under U.S. Copyright Law a Phonorecord is defined as: "a material object in which sounds are fixed and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. A phonorecord may include a cassette tape, an LP vinyl disk, a compact disk, or other means of fixing sounds. A phonorecord does not include those sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work."[FN 27]

In other words, sounds reproduced to a material object, such as a CD would result in a derivative work a.k.a. reproduction.

Some have defended a collection of non-disclosed reproductions and forgeries with the argument that they are no different that the publication of a book.

Under U.S. Copyright Law, -publication is defined as: "Publication has a technical meaning in copyright law. According to the statute, “Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending."[FN 28]

In other words, a manuscript published as books, the resulting copies would be considered derivative works a.k.a. reproductions.

Some have defended a collection of non-disclosed reproductions and forgeries with the argument that they are reproduced from the artist's work and therefore still his work.

Under U.S. Copyright Law, § 106A. -Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity - states:  "(a) Rights of Attribution and Integrity. — Subject to section 107 and independent of the exclusive rights provided in section 106, the author of a work of visual art —  (1) shall have the right —  (A) to claim authorship of that work, and (3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction."[FN 29]

The rights of attribution shall not apply to any reproduction.

ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS
The Portland Museum of Art and its' director  Mark Bessire is a current member of the Association of Art Museum Directors.[FN 30]

As an Association of Art Museum Director's member, the director Mark Bessire endorses the College Art Association’s ethics on sculptural reproductions which, in part, states “any transfer into new material unless specifically condoned by the artist, is to be considered inauthentic or counterfeit and should not be displayed or exhibited as a work of art.”[FN 31]

Edgar Degas died in 1917.  The posthumous forging in brass, however many generations removed from his original lifetime sculpture, did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death. 

The dead don't condone, much less sculpt.

Therefore, under AAMD's member Mark Bessire endorsed ethical guidelines, these non-disclosed posthumous Fourth Position in front on the left leg" and Head, Study of the Portrait of Mademoiselle's  brasses, in this exhibition, would be considered -inauthentic or counterfeit- and -should not be displayed or exhibited as works of art-.

Now, these AAMD ethical guidelines on sculptural reproductions does -not -specifically mention  the original artist creative medium of etchings to address the posthumous restriking of dead artist's canceled plates but would any AAMD member, much less Portland Museum of Art's director Mark Bessire want argue that posthumous forging in other mediums gets a free pass?

Edgar Degas died in 1917. The posthumous forging from his canceled plates did not begin till 1919, some two years after Edgar Degas' death.
 

The dead don't etch.

CRITERIA FOR DEACCESSIONING AND DISPOSAL
On page 22 of the Association of Art Museum Directos' published 2001 Professional Practices in Art Museum publication, under the subtitle -Criteria for Deaccessioning and Disposal-, it states: “The authenticity or attribution of the object lacks sufficient aesthetic merit or art historical importance to warrant retention. In disposing of or retaining a presumed forgery, the museum shall consider all ethical issues including the consequences of returning the object to the market.”[FN 32]

The Portland Museum of Art's Mission Statement states: "The Portland Museum of Art strives to enrich the lives of people through acquisition, preservation, and interpretation of the visual arts and the Museum's architecturally significant buildings."[FN 33]

Therefore, since reproductions, much less forgeries have no authenticity and cannot be attributed to a living artist much less a dead one, how can the  AAMD member Portland Museum of Art and the director Mark Bessire retain anything their endorsed ethics consider -inauthentic or counterfeit-, much less dispose of it back into the marketplace and follow their mission?




Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) and George W. Thornley (French, 1840-1926) Danseuse Pres de la Poele, ca. 1888-89, lithograph with Chine applique on thin wove pater applied to greenish-blue paper, Image size in: 12 7/8 x 9 3/4" Frame size in:"
SOURCES: Degaslistfinal.pdf  and PHOTO:  http://www.williamweston.co.uk/pages/catalogues/single/299/11/1.html
NON-DISCLOSED LIFETIME REPRODUCTION

FOUR LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS
The above is one of four non-disclosed lifetime chromist-made reproductions by the chromist  George W. Thornley and Auguste Clot in the Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle exhibition checklist[FN 34]. Three of those four non-disclosed posthumous chromist-made reproductions are listed as follows:
  1. [of 4] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) and George W. Thornley (French, 1840-1926) La Chanteuse, ca. 1888-89, lithograph with Chine applique, Image size in: 9 1/2 x 8" Frame size In: 21 x 16 x 1"
  2. [of 4] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) and George W. Thornley (French, 1840-1926) Sur la Plage, ca. 1888-89, lithograph with Chine applique, Image size in: 7 x 13 1/2" Mount: 8 7/8 x 14, Frame size In: 19 x 23 x 1"
  3. [of 4] Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917) and George W. Thornley (French, 1840-1926) Danseuse Pres de la Poele, ca. 1888-89, lithograph with Chine applique on thin wove pater applied to greenish-blue paper, Image size in: 12 7/8 x 9 3/4" Frame size in:"
George W. Thornley was a chromist ie., someone who copies the artwork of another artist which in the case was Edgar Degas. This is confirmed on page 387 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada's published 1988 Degas catalogue by Jean Sutherland Boggs, where under the subtitle: "Chronology III" and date: "April 1888," the author wrote: "Four lithographs by the engraver George William Thornley after works by Degas, three "danseuses" and one "femme a la toilette" (all unidentified), are shown at Galerie Boussod et Valadon. Freneon writes an appreciative review in the May issue of La Revue Independante. (Thornley executed fifteen lithographs in colored ink after Degas. The full portfolio was published in April 1889.)  Felix Feneon, "Calendrier d'avril," La Revue Independante, May 1888, reprinted in Feneon 1970, I. p. 111; see also Reed and Shapior 1984-85, pp. Ivii, Ixxi n. 11."[FN 35]

On page 8 of Harper Collins Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -after- is defined as a: "word used in an artist's inscription to indicated that his or her picture or sculpture was modeled on the work of another artist."[FN 36]

Therefore, since lithographs, [as original works of visual art created by the artist] versus reproductions [that are copies of original works of visual art done by someone other than the artist], chromist-made reproductions by George W. Thornley could never be Edgar Degas lithographs, much less attributable to Edgar Degas.



Before the Race, Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), c. 1887-1889, pastel on tracing paper mounted to cardboard. Sheet - h:57.50 w:65.40 cm (h:22 5/8 w:25 11/16 inches), Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Accession No.: 1958.27
http://www.clevelandart.org/collections/collection%20online.aspx?type=refresh&searchoption=1&csearch=Artist%20/%20Maker:Edgar%20Degas%20%28French,%201834-1917%29  
AUTHENTIC LIFETIME PASTEL BY DEGAS

On the Cleveland Museum of  Art’s website, it gives the following description for the above authentic lifetime Edgar Degas created Before the Race pastel in their collection: "Two of Degas's most preferred subjects were ballet dancers and horse races. Both enabled the artist to investigate the phenomenon of movement. In this work, he placed four racehorses and their jockeys in a bold formation that creates a strong sense of depth."[FN 37]

Now compare below the chromist-made lifetime reproduction by Auguste Clot, misleadingly attributed as a "color lithograph" by Edgar Degas in the Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA.


Edgar Degas and August Clot (French, active 19th Century), Before the Race, ca. 1895, color lithograph, Image size in: 19 3/4 x 22 1/2", Frame size in: 30 x 33 x 1"
SOURCES: Degaslistfinal.pdf  and  http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/images/
NON-DISCLOSED LIFETIME REPRODUCTION

The above is the fourth of four non-disclosed lifetime chromist-made reproductions by the chromist  George W. Thornley and Auguste Clot in the Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle exhibition checklist[FN 38]. This fourth non-disclosed posthumous chromist-made reproduction is listed as follows:
  • 4. [of 4] Edgar Degas and August Clot (French, active 19th Century), Before the Race, ca. 1895, color lithograph, Image size in: 19 3/4 x 22 1/2", Frame size in: 30 x 33 x 1"
 
In 1898, the L'Estampe et l'affiche publisher Andre Mellerio wrote the La Lithographic originale en couleurs catalogue. In referencing this catalogue, the Museum of Modern Art, on their website, stated: "the remarkable Lemercier chromiste, Auguste Clot (1858–1936), who opened his own workshop c. 1895. As printer to Vollard and Pellet, Clot worked with the most famous artists of the lithography revival. He reproduced Degas’s pastel for Germinal in 1899 and printed final states for three of the artist’s After the bath prints, begun c. 1891."[FN 39]

A chromist is someone who reproduces by their hand another artist's work and a Degas pastel reproduced results in reproductions not lithographs.

Additionally, referencing this 1898 published La Lithographic originale en couleurs catalogue, the Museum of Modern Art, on their website, stated: "While praising Clot’s intelligence, Mellerio, a purist concerned to distinguish ‘original prints’ from chromolithographs, took him to task for helping artists too much. Dûchatel’s treatise made clear, however, that colour washes often needed professional retouching; even for an artist of Toulouse-Lautrec’s distinction, colours were drawn or corrected by his printers. Letters prove that many colour prints were partly (even entirely) drawn by Clot. He added colour to Paul Cézanne’s black keystone for the Large Bathers. Auguste Renoir’s Child with Biscuit, Bather, Children Playing Ball and Pinned Hat were evolved by Clot from pastels, as were Alfred Sisley’s By the River (Geese) and Redon’s Béatrice. Even in André Marty’s L’Estampe originale—a series greatly approved by Mellerio—Signac’s print was from a watercolour copied at Ancourt’s workshop, while Le Jeu by Puvis de Chavannes was a photolithographed drawing."[FN 40]

So, in other words, the chromist Auguste Clot reproduced, by his  own hand, many artists' work, including Edgar Degas' and those chromist-made reproductions have ended up  being misrepresented, with or without intent by some collectors, industry professionals and museums, as authentic works of visual art ie., lithographs.

They have no shame.

CURATED BY LOUISE SIDDONS, PH.D
The Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA., "is curated by Louise Siddons, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Art History and Curator at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, who will provide the exhibition essay and detailed labels for the works. Ms. Siddons was previously Visiting Assistant Professor and Adjunct Curator at Michigan State University (2007-2009); and earlier, Assistant Curator at the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco."[FN 41]

On the Oklahoma State University's Faculty website, Louise Siddons is described, in part, as: an art historian specializing in American art and the visual culture of modernity [whose] research interests focus on the history of printmaking and photography, particularly in relation to representations of race, racialization, sexuality and the family."[FN 42]

So, of all individuals involved with this exhibition, Louise Siddons should have known that Edgar Degas was -history- ie., dead when the work, in question, was posthumous forged.  In other words, Louise Siddons' research should have informed her, in case she was in doubt, that in the history of printmaking, no dead artist has ever created any new work.

The dead don't etch.

Yet, the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where she worked as an asssistant curator, is riddled with dozens upon dozens of non-disclosed posthumous [after 1863] reworked and altered forgeries falsely attributed as original works of visual art ie., etchings to dead Francisco Jose de Goya Lucientes [d 1828] with the titles "The Disasters of War," and "Los Proverbios." 

The dead are history.


COLLECTOR ROBERT FLYNN JOHNSON
Additionally,  the owner/collector for the vast majority of work, in the Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, is Robert Flynn Johnson, "Curator Emeritus, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco."[FN 43]

In the Landau Traveling Exhibition's published "Encounters with Monsieur Degas" essay by Robert Flynn Johnson, the author wrote: "In its purest form, however, collecting is a way of attempting to understand the work of art in question, the artist who fashioned it, and, in turn, oneself as the collector ponders what qualities the work possesses that make one want to own it."[FN 44]

Since Edgar Degas never fashioned during his lifetime anything in bronze, much less brass, never posthumously fashioned any etchings from his canceled plates and never fashioned his approval of posthumous chromist-made reproductions from his monotypes, would one have to ponder the connoisseurship of someone who would want to own them, much less misrepresent them as original works of visual art?

 The dead don't fashion.
 

THE ROYAL ACADEMY CURATOR ANN DUMAS
Furthermore, Ann Dumas, Curator of The Royal Academy, London, "a respected scholar of Impressionism, has curated  numerous exhibitions, including the forthcoming exhibition, Degas Dancers: Eye and Camera, presenting Degas’ dancers in the context of contemporary photography and film,"[FN 45] will provide a preface to the Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition.

In that preface titled "A Very Private Collection" by Ann Dumas, the author's first sentence is: "Robert Flynn Johnson is a true connoisseur."[FN 46]

Ann Dumas further wrote: "After his first acquisition, Johnson pursued his interest in Degas the printmaker, purchasing a substantial number of notable etchings and monotypes. The collection includes fine impressions of several of Degas’ most famous prints, such as his friends’ portraits, Édouard Manet and Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Paintings Gallery, and the important etching  At the Café des Ambassadeurs."[FN 47]

In Paul Duro and Michael Greenhalgh’s published Essential Art History, “connoisseurship” is defined as: “that of the art expert able to distinguish between the authentic and non-authentic, for example between an original and a copy.”[FN 48] 

What are we to make of the connoisseuship of a so-called "respected scholar" who would promote non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as etchings by "Degas the printmaker" when at the time they forged he was dead?

The dead don't make impressions.


LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 49]

Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 50]

Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 51]

Finally, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 52]

CONCLUSION
What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses, academia, galleries and art dealers. If the Portland Museum of Art's February 23, 2012 to May 28, 2012  Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist Works on Paper by the Artist and his Circle from the Collection of Robert Flynn Johnson traveling exhibition, organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA., will give full and honest disclosure to all reproductions as -reproductions-, much less forgeries as: -forgeries-, it would allow consumer the potential to give informed consent on whether to attend an exhibition of reproductions and forgeries, much less pay the $12 price of admission.

But if those reproductions and forgeries are not fully and honestly disclosed for what they truly are, then potential serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent those forgeries for profit.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future consumers ie. the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.   


FOOTNOTES:
1. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

2. Art Journal © 1995 College Art Association, http://www.jstor.org/pss/777513

3. © 1998 National Gallery of Art ISBN 0-300-07517-0

4. Copyright © 2000 by High Museum of Art, ISBN 0-8478-2340-7

5. www.nga.gov/education/degas-11.htm

6. © 2010 ISBN 978-0-691-14897-7, National Gallery of Art, Washington, www.nga.gov

7.W. W. Norton & Company (October 2001), ISBN-10: 039332088X, ISBN-13: 978-0393320886

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend

9. http://www.portlandmuseum.org/Content/5897.shtml

10. Ibid

11 Copyright © 1980 by Random House, Inc., ISBN 0=394-43600-8 thumb-indexed ed.

12. http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

13. http://www.spaightwoodgalleries.com/Pages/Degas.html

14. http://www.pasqualeart.com/degas/index.html


15. http://www.jdsmithfineart.com/degas_laundress_main.html
J D Smith Fine Art, Happy Valley, OR, USA, 97086

16. http://www.jdsmithfineart.com/question_cancelled_plate.html
  • What is a cancelled plate? Why do dealers sometimes sell etchings and lithographs printed from cancelled plates?
  • When an artist finishes printing the number of impressions they want of a work (the total edition size), they usually “cancel” the plate. To cancel the plate, they typically scribe noticeable crosshatch or “X” lines across the plate. These lines cross the image and will show up on any later impressions made from the plate. The lines indicate that any later impressions were not part of the original edition. Cancelling a plate is the best way an artist has to protect the value of the impressions in the official edition.
  •  
  • So then ... impressions from cancelled plates are bad, right?
  • The answer varies. Usually impressions from cancelled plates are done by a dealer or printer to make additional money from a popular artist’s work. These later impressions are usually not the desire of the artist. They are valued less than impressions from the official edition.
  • But they are not always “bad” or without value. Artists like Degas often produced very few impressions of a work before cancelling the plate. Later in life he gave about 20 cancelled plates to his dealer Ambroise Vollard for Vollard to publish an extended edition. Thus, the Vollard edition of Degas’ etchings from cancelled plates were the artist’s intent ... hence they are good. Since impressions of Degas’ prints from the pre-cancelled state of the plate are more rare, and therefore much more expensive, collectors often purchase impressions from the cancelled plates. For many of these Degas etchings, the cancellation marks are not very obtrusive.

17. http://www.art-art.co.uk/Degas.htm
  • Title: The Laundresses
  • Medium: Original Etching and aquatint , Fourth state,1879/80
  • Size: Plate size : 118 x 160 mms. Paper size 420 x 280 mms
  • Reference: Reed & Shapeiro Edgar (Degas, the Painter as printmaker) No 48, page 149, Delteil 37 ; Adhemar 32
  • Condition: In good condition with some creasing on the outer right hand side margins not affecting the image. Framed
  • 1) A later striking from the cancelled plate showing cancellation marks 2)The subject matter, although unique in the artists oeuvre, does relate to other etchings from this period in the examination of space. The etching was made on a daguerreotype plate. The fourth state exhibits considerable scraping of the image, especially on the seated laundress, the chair, cat, stovepipe and wall to the left of the doorway. Only 8 impressions are known of this state. 3)Our piece as mentioned before comes from a cancelled plate. There were later impressions from cancelled plates made of some of this artists prints by the famous art publisher Ambroise Vollard but our piece is not one of those series. Vollard did include this print in the oeuvre in his edition of 120 on Japan Paper made in 1919/20 measuring 323 x 250 mms. His impressions are noted for being rather pale. For a discussion on those pieces see "Una Johnson 'Ambroise Vollard; Prints, books, bronzes' The Museum of Modern Art, New York, page 131, no 28. Our piece was made by Frank Perls Gallery of 350 N Camden Drive, Beverley Hills, California and was one of 26 etchings made in a limited edition at that time. These were printed by Lacouriere in Paris on Vieux Japan paper. The pieces from the small edition (quantity unstipulated) were made with the printers blindstamp but a number of additional printers proofs were made, of which ours is an example, without this blindstamp. The piece must be a rarity since it is hardly ever seen. Details of the edition were published in a scarce leaflet of which we have a copy entitled "Twenty six original copperplates engraved by Degas" . A copy of this work, if required, will be sold with the etching. In the forward Frank Perls states that the copper plates "are exhibited here for the first time. They were acquired by me recently from a friend of the Degas-Fevre family". Marguerite De Gas Fevre was the artists younger sister who he etched in 1860/62 (Delteil 17, Reed & Shapeiro 14 - included in the group).
  • Price £: 900

18. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!211805!0

19. © 1965 by Print Council of America, Library of Congress, Catalog Card Number: 65-24325, Seventh Printing, March, 1971

20. Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

21. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/legal/informed_compliance_pubs/

22. Degaslistfinal.pdf

23. http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/images/
  • 49      Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 50     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 51     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 52     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 53     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 54     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 55     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 56     Edgar Degas           1934     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 57     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 58     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 59     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 60     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 61     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 62     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 63     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard
  • 64     Edgar Degas            1935     Color engraving and aquatint after monotype by Edgar Degas by Maurice Potin (French 1874-?) commissioned by Vollard

24. Published in 2001 by the Association of Art Museum Directors, 41 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021, ISBN 1-880974-02-9

25. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html

26. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html

27. http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/definitions.html

28. Ibid

29. www. copyright.gov

30. http://aamd.org/about/#Members

31. Published in 2001 by the Association of Art Museum Directors, 41 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021, ISBN 1-880974-02-9

32. www.collegeart.org/guidelines/sculpture

33. http://www.portlandmuseum.org/about/facts.shtml

34. Degaslistfinal.pdf

35.  © Editions de la Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Paris, 1988, Natonal Gallery of Canada for the Corporation of the National Monument of Canada, Ottawa, 1988, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, ISBN 0-88884-581-2 (National Gallery of Canada)

36. Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

37.http://www.clevelandart.org/collections/collection%20online.aspx?type=refresh&searchoption=1&csearch=Artist%20/%20Maker:Edgar%20Degas%20%28French,%201834-1917%29

38. Degaslistfinal.pdf

39.http://www.moma.org/m/explore/collection/art_terms/10110/0/2.iphone_ajax?klass=term

40. Ibid

41. http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/

42. http://art.okstate.edu/faculty/siddons.php

43. http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/

44. Landau Traveling Exhibition’s degas.pdf

45. http://www.a-r-t.com/degas/

46. Landau Traveling Exhibition’s degas.pdf

47. Ibid

48. Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Ltd (July 1995), ISBN-10: 0747515859, ISBN-13: 978-0747515852
Publication Date: July 1995
This guide to the history of Western art combines a comprehensive essay, outlining the development of the discipline and its major movements, with more than 300 detailed entries, organized alphabetically from Abstract Expressionism to Zeitgeist, on the movements, terminology, writers, bibliography and philosophy significant to the development of art history. Extensive bibliographical information and cross-references are included.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Art-History-Paul-Duro/dp/0747515859/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329636465&sr=1-1-fkmr0

49. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

50. Ibid

51. Ibid

52. Ibid

posted by Gary Arseneau at 2:55 AM

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