Attributed to Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917). Black chalk and colorful pastel drawings on brownish wove paper.The drawings depict studies of the male nude as well as a portrait of a male wearing a top hat. The portrait of the winking male, ‘The Man with the Top-Hat’, bears resemblance to Toulouse-Lautrec. The drawing was created in the second half of the 19th century, around 1890. Its size without a passe-partout is 54 x 43 cm. The condition is good. There are two vertical folding traces and minor damage to the right-hand corner. There are old collector numbers / auction numbers on the reverse lower left hand side. The signature on the back reads Degas and was presumably added by someone else.The drawing’s origin is very interesting. The art dealer Leo Schidlof (1886-1966) sold it to the Jewish art collector and architect Anton Schmid (1904-1991) as an Edgar Degas original in the 1940s. We were in Artstetten at the former home of the architect Anton Schmid, visiting his son. We came across this drawing along with some others in a dusty folder on top of an old baroque closet. The son was not able to tell us anything about the drawing. He explained that his father was widely known among art collectors and had acquired a vast and important collection of old master drawings over decades, most of which he bequeathed to a museum in Germany after his death. His father had written the following words in pencil on the passe-partout: Drawing from the Schidlof London collection, bought as a Degas. This drawing was probably purchased directly from the Leo Schidlof gallery or through the Adolf Weinmüller auction house in Vienna. Leo Schidlof was a co-proprietor of the Adolf Weinmüller auction house in Vienna.Shipping within Europe: 45 Euro including insurance up to 30,000 Euro.Payment: Collection in our gallery in Vienna or via international bank transfer.

good condition