Brothel Scene

When Edmond de Goncourt's novel La Fille Elisa (The Girl Elisa) was published in March 1877, the tragic story of a girl who becomes a prostitute quickly caught Edgar Degas's attention. Months later, he sketched several scenes from the book in his notebook, focusing on the episodes when the prostitute is with her soldier lover. Here the drunken pair have fallen asleep at a table with an empty wine bottle between them. Using hasty, seemingly careless strokes, Degas outlined the figures and their surroundings with a few slashing lines. The woman's slumped posture and her companion's open-mouthed sleep are both recorded in the most emphatic terms, without sacrificing either swiftness or spontaneity. Simply by smudging the pencil lines with his finger, Degas also created darker accents such as the shadows under the table, the crease of the prostitute's shoulder blades, and her black hair. This effect dissolves the body's contours and emphasizes the woman's dark form in contrast to the soldier's pale, empty figure in the background.

Digital image and text courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.