Fishing Boat at the Entrance to the Port of Dives by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: Fishing Boat at the Entrance to the Port of Dives

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: 1869

Culture: French

Medium: Pastel and charcoal

Dimensions: 8 11/16 × 12 11/16 in. (22 × 32.2 cm)
Framed: 11 13/16 × 16 in. (30 × 40.6 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: Private collection


Degas made more than forty pastel seascapes after a trip to Normandy during the summer of 1869. Following many of his contemporaries to the French coast, including Manet, whom he visited at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Degas chose to emphasize the sea and sky in his compositions rather than the promenades of beachgoers that were popular subjects for his peers. It is likely that Degas worked at least partially en plein air, making notes on the effects of light, atmosphere, and color before returning to the studio to complete these works, which depict identifiable locations.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/851697