# Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat

**Edgar Degas** (French, 1834–1917)  
ca. 1868  
Graphite and black chalk  
Sheet: 13 1/16 x 9 1/16 in. (33.1 x 23 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 19.51.7. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/333813).

## About this work

Édouard Manet sits with his hat in his hand, caught by his friend and rival Edgar Degas in a few sure lines of graphite and black chalk. The two painters met in the early 1860s, reputedly while Degas was copying in the Louvre, and Degas drew and etched Manet several times later in that decade. The informal pose, as if the sitter had just arrived or was about to leave, is typical of Degas’s interest in passing, unguarded moments.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Edgar Degas drew this in about 1868, aged about 29. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Edgar Degas](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/edgar-degas)

French, 1834–1917; born in Paris; died in Paris

Degas trained in the academic tradition, admired Ingres and spent three years in Italy copying earlier art, but turned to modern Paris for his subjects: dancers, racecourses, laundresses, milliners and café singers. He helped organise the Impressionist exhibitions and showed in all but one, yet preferred to call himself a realist. Working from drawing and memory rather than outdoors, he composed with unexpected cropping and viewpoints, and in later years worked mostly in pastel as his eyesight failed.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- The artist was about 29
- Real size: about 13 × 9 in (33 × 23 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/impressionism)
- Subjects: Men, Portraits, Artists
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/988.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/988/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/edouard-manet-seated-holding-his-hat-met-333813).