Woman with Field Glasses by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: Woman with Field Glasses

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

Date: ca. 1877

Geography: Country of Origin France

Culture: French

Medium: Oil on cardboard

Dimensions: 18 7/8 × 12 5/8 in. (48 × 32 cm)
Framed: 27 5/8 × 21 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (70.2 × 54.6 × 4.4 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Albertinum | Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Gal.-Nr. 2601)

This arresting oil sketch, which seems to represent the very act of looking itself, is one of several studies of a standing woman gazing through field glasses. Her identity is masked by the glittering lenses of her binoculars, making it likely that Degas meant to integrate the figure into the larger composition of a racing picture rather than portray an individual likeness. This work was a gift to the artist James Tissot.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/845745