Edgar DEGAS (Paris, 1834 - 1917) Effect of light at sunset by the sea Watercolour Signed 'Degas' lower right Light effect at sunset by the sea, watercolor, signed, by E. Degas 9.64 x 13.97 in. 24.5 x 35.5 cm Provenance: Probably acquired by Louis Gillet directly from the artist; Collection Louis Gillet (1876-1943), Paris ; Then by descent; Private collection, Ile-de-France According to family tradition, Louis Gillet, an art historian who was particularly close to Rodin and Forain, may have acquired this watercolour from the artist. It has remained in the same family to this day. Well-introduced to artistic circles, there is no doubt that Louis Gillet met Degas at a time and in circumstances that we do not yet know. But it was he who published the long presentation of the significant Degas exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1924, in the famous Revue des Deux-Mondes of April of that year. Probably at the request of Georges Petit, its organiser. Gillet wrote at the time: "It seems that Degas has agreed to look at his time only in what was not of any time" [P. 875]. Much later, in his induction speech at the Académie française on 11 June 1936, Gillet admitted: "Who am I? When I think of it, next to these irreproachable masters, a Chardin, a Le Nain, a Corot? And he didn't forget to add: "What would Degas say? After his first landscapes painted during his stay in Italy in the mid-1950s, Degas turned his attention to it again in the autumn of 1869. In Normandy, he painted a series of beaches and cliffs, following in the footsteps of Boudin, who was fascinated by the light of the region. It is not known whether he painted them on the spot or in his studio on his return to Paris. In our watercolour, Degas is interested only in the effects of the setting sun's rays on the blue sea and golden sand. The example in the Musée d'Orsay is worth noting (fig. 1). As is often the case in his Impressionist landscapes, we do not recognise the place and the presence of man is barely rendered by a few strokes in pastel and here with a brush. Although most of Degas's seascapes were painted in pastel, he used watercolour here, and not for the first time. He had tried his hand at it in his landscapes in Italy, not to mention the watercolours he did in 1867 at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, including the one in the Musée d'Orsay (fig. 2). We can only conclude with the apotheosis of comparing our watercolour with some of Turner's watercolours, as shown here (fig. 3). Michel Schulman Mars 2025 We would like to thank Mr Michel Schulman for confirming the authenticity of this work, which will be included in the digital catalogue raisonné of Edgar Degas's drawings to be published shortly under no. 3845, and for writing this note. Edgar DEGAS (Paris, 1834 - 1917) 24.5 x 35.5 cm According to family tradition, Louis Gillet, an art historian who was particularly close to Rodin and Forain, may have acquired this watercolour from the artist. It has remained in the same family to this day. Well-introduced to artistic circles, there is no doubt that Louis Gillet met Degas at a time and in circumstances that we do not yet know. But it was he who published the long presentation of the significant Degas exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1924, in the famous Revue des Deux-Mondes of April of that year. Probably at the request of Georges Petit, its organiser. Gillet wrote at the time: "It seems that Degas has agreed to look at his time only in what was not of any time" [P. 875]. Much later, in his induction speech at the Académie française on 11 June 1936, Gillet admitted: "Who am I? When I think of it, next to these irreproachable masters, a Chardin, a Le Nain, a Corot? And he didn't forget to add: "What would Degas say? After his first landscapes during his stay in Italy in the mid-50s, Degas turned his attention back to it in the autumn of 1869. In Normandy, he painted a series of beaches and cliffs, following in the footsteps of Boudin, who was fascinated by the light of the region. It is not known whether he painted them on the spot or in his studio on his return to Paris. In our watercolour, Degas is interested only in the effects of the setting sun's rays on the blue sea and golden sand. The example in the Musée d'Orsay is worth noting (fig. 1). As is often the case in his Impressionist landscapes, we do not recognise the place and the presence of man is barely rendered by a few strokes in pastel and here with a brush. Although most of Degas's seascapes were painted in pastel, he used watercolour here, and not for the first time. He had tried his hand at it in his landscapes in Italy, not to mention the watercolours he did in 1867 at Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, including the one in the Musée d'Orsay (fig. 2). We can only conclude with the apotheosis of comparing our watercolour with some of Turner's watercolours, as shown here (fig. 3). Michel Schulman Mars 2025 We would like to thank Mr Michel Schulman for confirming the authenticity of this work, which will be included in the digital catalogue raisonné of Edgar Degas's drawings to be published shortly under no. 3845, and for writing this note.