
Supabase Storage • Public Domain
by Edgar Degas
Washington, D.C., United States
Permanently housed
This painting by Edgar Degas preparatory sketch of young Giulia Bellelli, his cousin, for his ambitious family portrait begun in 1858. The drawing captures the child's face with sensitive observation, rendering her solemn expression using economical but precise lines. Degas made numerous such studies during his extended stay with the Bellelli family in Florence while developing his skills.
The finished painting, now in the Musée d'Orsay, depicts the fractured family dynamics that Degas observed during his visit. This sketch demonstrates his rigorous training in classical draftsmanship, skills learned from studying Ingres and Italian Renaissance masters. The work resides at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC. It reveals how carefully Degas prepared his compositions, studying individual figures repeatedly before combining them into larger, more complex works.
Other masterpieces from the Impressionism movement

Claude Monet, 1926
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

Claude Monet, 1875
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

James McNeill Whistler, 1871
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Claude Monet, 1899
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Claude Monet, 1872
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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