Edgar Degas, La Chanson Du Chien (The Song Of The Dog), 1888

A bright fiery glow shines upward from the stage lights of a bustling Parisian café, magically illuminating famous nineteenth century performer Theresa Valadon, the "reigning queen of the café concert" in this exquisite Degas lithograph (Shapiro 75) .

Created in 1888, Degas (Paris, 1834- Paris, 1917) collaborated with William Thornley to create a set of fifteen compositions in lithography entitled, "Quinze Lithographies d'après Degas." La Chanson du Chien, an exciting theatrical print, was published by Boussod Valadon, Paris, and printed by Atelier Becquet. A guaranteed authentic signature by Degas' appears in the lower left hand side of the work. Thornley has also signed this work in the lower right.

In the nineteenth century Impressionist artists and thinkers became fascinated with "daily life" experiences in unexpected places like the theater, cafés, parks, metropolitan promenades, and the like. Their goal as visual artists was to document intimate and generally unexplored aspects of everyday life. Artists like Degas (Paris, 1834- Paris, 1917) were active participators in this endeavor, and as such, produced many works of art deconstructing a ballet practice, a woman bathing, children exchanging a subtle glance in a park, and so on. However, Degas had a particular interest in theatrical performers. Like ballerinas, theatre folk held a particular appeal to Degas because they lead an interesting double life as performers and individuals. Degas scholar Jean Sutherland Boggs states, "Subjects inspired by the café-concert, principally signers in performance, appeared rather suddenly in Degas' work…In a letter of 1883 to the painter Henry Lerolle, Degas called her voice 'the most natural, the most delicate, and the most vibrantly tender' instrument imaginable."

Degas (Paris, 1834- Paris, 1917) , as a true artist and innovator, created this lithograph through the use of crayon on paper, which was then transferred directly to the stone. Not only was Degas interested in the most modern and contemporary subject matter of the late nineteenth century, he was also fascinated by experimental technique. As was the case for many impressionists, the artistic process was equally as important as the subject matter.

Provenance:
Collection Chantal et Guy Heytens, France

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that I will enclose with the sale of the work) :

1) Delteil, Loys, Le Peintre-Graveur Illustre Edgar Degas, Paris 1919, listed as cat. no. 48.

2) Boggs, Jean Sutherland, Degas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 1989, painting listed as cat. no. 175 on page 291.

3) Shapiro, Barbara Stern and Sue Welsh Reed, Edgar Degas, The Painter as Printmaker, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1984, listed as cat. no. 25b on page 77.

4) Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
Conservation framed in a Baroque-inspired gold frame, the beautiful design in the moulding is the perfect compliment for this theatrical piece. The delicate gold highlights in Degas' gray-brown backing paper are gracefully accentuated by the luminous gold frame. The subtle tonalities of light and dark in the lithograph are complimented by the crisp white linen wrapped mat. A matching gold inner fillet and Plexiglas cover finish the framing. All materials used are museum quality and archival.

NOTE: Our master framer custom frames all our works specifically for our company. If our selection of framing is not to your taste, we can easily custom frame the work to meet your needs.