1879
pastel
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Madame Dietz-Monnin is a 1879 pastel by Edgar Degas, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a woman in profile, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a pink ribbon. Her face is lightly outlined, with soft strokes for the eyes and mouth. The hat’s shadow covers part of her cheek, and a dark fur collar frames her neck. The background is vague, with a hint of a building or landscape in the corner. Pastel was Degas’ go-to for quick, loose portraits—this one feels like a snapshot. The rough edges and smudged lines make it look like it was drawn fast, almost like a doodle. Try looking up pastel to see how artists use soft, blendable sticks of color.
Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas on 19 July 1834 in Paris, Edgar Degas came from an affluent banking family with aristocratic roots and spent his childhood among the cultivated circles of the French capital.
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