Description
The Convalescent shows a young woman seated in an armchair, wrapped in a heavy dark brown robe over a white nightdress. She has laid her head against her raised hand, propped on the back of the chair; her face is pale and tired, with shadows under the eyes — and she looks straight out at us. Behind her at the left is a white bed, above a narrow band of greenish flowered wallpaper, and at the right the dark upholstered back of the chair. The original is an oil painting on canvas and is held by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles under the accession number 2002.57. We make it as a hand-painted work, in sizes from 30 x 35 to 100 x 110 cm or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | The Convalescent |
| Other titles: | La convalescente |
| Painter: | Edgar Degas (1834–1917) |
| Year of execution: | 1872–1873 |
| Original size: | 65.7 cm x 49.8 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (acc. no. 2002.57) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on linen canvas, 8 sizes from 30 x 35 cm to 100 x 110 cm, custom sizes on request |
The Convalescent – Edgar Degas
Who is shown?
A single woman, who is not named. She is young, seated in an armchair and wrapped in a heavy dark brown robe pulled up over her head like a cloak; a white nightdress shows beneath it. Her long dark hair is loose. She has tilted her head to one side and rested it against her raised hand, which sits on the back of the chair. Her face is pale and thinned, with shadows under the eyes. And she does something almost nobody in Degas does: she looks straight out at us.
What is on the canvas?
Very little, and very exactly. The scene is upright and two colours govern it: the dark brown of the robe and the white of the nightdress, which falls across the whole lower half. Behind her at the left lies a white bed with the covers turned back — so we know where she has got up from. Above, a narrow band of greenish flowered wallpaper appears, the only other colour on the canvas. At the right is the dark upholstered chair back. At the upper right the work is signed.
Why does this particular scene matter?
Because the illness is painted without a performance. In the painting of that time a sick woman usually meant a scene: the doctor, the candle, mourners at the bedside, death or deliverance. Here there is none of it. No doctor, no medicine, no visitor. The woman has got out of bed but has not dressed; she has wrapped herself and sat down. That is exactly the state the title names: neither illness nor health, but the time in between. The second thing is the look. Because of it the scene is not the observation of a patient but a meeting with her.
What does the scene mean?
Tiredness that has begun to turn. Impressionism for Degas never meant light out of doors but exactness of observation, including when the subject is uncomfortable. An impressionist painting of this kind is closer to the study of an acquaintance than to a commissioned portrait, and that is exactly why the face is so direct. As wall art it is quiet and warm; it works in a bedroom, a study, or the corner where you read. A canvas painting like this belongs on a calm wall rather than an open, busy one.
The motif among Degas’s works
Degas portrayed women in rooms rather than in studios. A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers shows the same procedure — the person at the edge, the object in the middle, Young Woman with Ibis is an earlier and more formal portrait, and Madame René De Gas is a portrait of a woman from his own family, painted with the same particular care. This work is catalogued in the Degas catalogue raisonné as MS 702, and how Degas saw a woman at work in a shop is shown by The Millinery Shop at the Art Institute of Chicago.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil colours, not a printer, and here the technique of the original is the same as ours: oil on canvas. Every one of our canvases is made layer after layer, and in this motif the face is the hardest part. The pallor must not become grey: the skin has to stay warm even while it is ill, or the woman is not convalescing but dead. The other demanding part is the white of the nightdress, which is not white — there are greys, ochres and bluish shadows in it, and painted in pure white it loses the softness of cloth. We paint the dark robe in several thin layers so that the folds stay visible inside it. Every reproduction is made afresh and no two copies are ever quite the same, because the hand does not repeat the same stroke twice; every hand-painted copy is therefore its own. For this work we have no photographs of our finished canvases, so we show and describe none here. The photograph of your canvas reaches you before dispatch.
Which size for which wall?
If you do not know which: 60 x 70 cm. The original measures 65.7 x 49.8 cm; our 50 x 55 cm size comes nearest to it in size, while in proportion the nearest are 30 x 35 and 60 x 70 cm, because our sizes run noticeably wider than the original. The 30 x 35 and 43 x 47 cm sizes are for a narrow space or the wall beside a door, where the face is seen close to. The 50 x 55 and 60 x 70 cm sizes are the most frequent choice above a chest of drawers or beside a bed. The 70 x 80 and 80 x 90 cm sizes are for a larger wall, where the woman’s look still carries from a distance. The 90 x 100 cm size is for an entrance hall, and at 100 x 110 cm we are at the sizes where a large painting really breathes and the face is bigger than life — with this motif a strong effect, and not one for every room. Measure your chosen size on the wall with a paper cut-out first; with an upright format the mistake is usually made in the height. None of the sizes is held in stock as a finished item: every copy is made to order and stays a single piece.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits you, or if you want the original’s proportion, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the scene, so that the white bed behind at the left stays visible and the hand on the chair back does not fall off the edge; that is our painting made to order. Every copy is delivered stretched on a wooden bar, ready to hang. For the frame, use our 3D application: on this motif it shows every moulding profile we carry, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood – it is for choosing a frame and nothing else. If you want to see how the work looks on your own wall, that is our separate room-placement service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every copy is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose; for the largest sizes the time is usually at the upper end. We send it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, to sixteen countries in the European Union, without customs duties. You receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch, and our returns policy applies to every order. The whole range is in the Edgar Degas gallery, and the painter’s life is described in our article about Edgar Degas.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the sitter?
She is not named. We know only what the title says: a woman recovering from an illness.
What is she wearing?
A white nightdress and over it a heavy dark brown robe, pulled up over her head. She has got out of bed but has not dressed.
What is in the background?
A white bed with the covers turned back behind her at the left, a narrow band of greenish flowered wallpaper above, and the dark back of the armchair at the right.
Why does she look straight out at us?
That is rare in Degas — most of his figures look away. Here the look turns the scene from an observation into a meeting.
Where is the original located?
In the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, under the accession number 2002.57.
How large is the original?
65.7 by 49.8 cm. Our 50 x 55 cm size comes nearest to it in size.
Are your sizes in the same proportion as the original?
No – ours run noticeably wider. In proportion the nearest are 30 x 35 and 60 x 70 cm; if you want the original’s proportion, we paint it to your measurements.
Is this a print?
No. The work is painted by hand in oil colours; the brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Which size should I choose?
Beside a bed or above a chest of drawers usually 60 x 70 cm, for a narrow wall 43 x 47 cm. The size guide is above.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes, we paint to measure and keep the proportions of the scene while doing it.
Is it suitable as a gift?
Yes, but think about who for — the scene is quiet and personal and does not suit everyone. Because every copy is made to order, allow for the making time; if you would rather leave the choice to them, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: a young woman in an armchair, wrapped in a dark robe over a white nightdress, her head against her raised hand, looking straight at the viewer
- Original: Edgar Degas, an oil painting on canvas, 65.7 x 49.8 cm, J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (2002.57)
- Ours: hand-painted in oil, eight sizes from 30 x 35 to 100 x 110 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: the illness is painted without a performance – no doctor, no medicine, no visitor, only a woman who has got out of bed and has not dressed
