51 HIGHLIGHT DEGAS STUDY SCMA WAS THRILLED TO BE THE SUCCESSFUL bidder (with the assistance of New York-based drawings dealer Mark Brady) on a preparatory study for the painting René de Gas à l’Encrier (below, right) which is in the museum’s collection. This red chalk study (below, left) was among a recently discovered cache of early Degas drawings that descended through the Degas family and were offered for sale at Christie’s Paris. Degas’ portraits of his immediate family, many of which were made before the period when he studied in Italy, provide a crucial window to understanding both his training and his nascent working style. The drawing presents an alternate pose to the finished painting: René’s costume appears to be the same, and he retains the same solemn expression and side long glance. There is more detail in the jacket, and René is depicted wearing his hat rather than holding it in his right hand as he does in the finished painting. The still life of books and inkwell is also not present. The facial features are complete, whereas they are missing in another preparatory drawing for the painting, which was acquired by purchase in 1996. The light grid of pencil lines on the drawing and the application of sanguine crayon to indicate areas of shadow may indicate that this drawing was an early version of the composition. ABOVE LEFT: Edgar Degas. French, 1834–1917. Study for René de Gas à l’Encrier, c. 1855. Sanguine crayon and graphite on laid paper, mounted. Purchased with the Diane Allen Nixon, class of 1957, Fund, and the Beatrice Oenslager Chace, class of 1928, Fund. MIDDLE: Edgar Degas. French, 1834–1917, Study for René de Gas à l’Encrier, c. 1855. Graphite heightened with white on thin, slightly textured, blue wove paper. Purchased with the Diane Allen Nixon, class of 1957, Fund and with gifts from Elizabeth Mayer Boeckman, class of 1954, Jill M. Capobianco, class of 1986, John Eastman (with a matching gift from United Television, Inc.), Janet Wright Ketcham, class of 1953, Alice Kramer, class of 1952, Eliot Chace Nolen, class of 1954, Bonnie Johnson Sacerdote, class of 1964 and Louisa Stude Sarofim, class of 1958. ABOVE RIGHT: Edgar Degas. French, 1834–1917. René de Gas à L’Encrier, 1855. Oil on canvas. Purchased. 51