Artwork
Sulking
Sulking is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas. It dates from 1870 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This depiction of a strained silence between the sexes serves as a psychological study rather than a narrative event.
Executed in 1870, this oil painting portrays an intimate domestic interior featuring two figures identified as the writer Louis Edmond Duranty and the model Emma Dobigny. The composition captures a moment of interpersonal tension: while the man sits absorbed in reading, the woman appears withdrawn and sullen, embodying the work's title. This depiction of a strained silence between the sexes serves as a psychological study rather than a narrative event.
The iconography relies on the contrast between the male figure's intellectual engagement with a text and the female figure's emotional isolation within the same shared space. Through this juxtaposition, the work represents the subtle complexities and potential alienation inherent in close relationships, focusing on the unspoken dynamics of a couple in conflict.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1870, Sulking is an oil painting applied to a canvas support. The work measures 32.4 cm in height by 46.4 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition depicts an interior scene featuring two figures, identified as Emma Dobigny and the critic Louis Edmond Duranty, one engaged in reading, the other withdrawn.
The handling of the oil medium captures the confined spatial arrangement of the room, reflecting Degas's approach to domestic interiors during this period.
History & Provenance
Sulking was painted by Edgar Degas in 1870, an oil-on-canvas work measuring 32.4 cm by 46.4 cm that depicts the model Emma Dobigny and the critic Louis Edmond Duranty in an interior scene. After its completion the painting entered the collection of American collector Louisine Havemeyer, whose holdings later formed a core part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European paintings department. The work remains in the Met's collection under accession number 29.100.43.
Overview
"Sulking" is an oil painting that captures an intimate domestic scene. Set in a dimly lit interior, the work features two individuals whose postures and actions suggest a moment of quiet tension or emotional distance. The artist uses the setting and the figures' arrangement to evoke a specific mood, inviting viewers to interpret the unspoken narrative unfolding within the room.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
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.
