The pastel artwork is said to have been kept in a monastery throughout the Spanish Civil War.
Edgar Degas, Éloge du Maquillage (1876). Photo courtesy of Juan Arjona.
An astute online bargain hunter struck gold when they came across a pastel drawing labeled as a “fake” Degas in 2021. The skillfully executed composition grabbed their attention, and with the assistance of expert Michel Schulman, it was identified as the likely missing work “Éloge du maquillage” (In Praise of Cosmetics) (1876), a well-known brothel scene by Degas.
The revelation surfaced on May 28, when the artwork was unveiled at the Institute Français in Madrid, initially reported by the Catalan news outlet El Punt Avui.
The narrative details that an anonymous Barcelona bidder engaged in a competitive auction on Todocolección. Starting at a mere €1 ($1), the individual secured the piece for €926 ($1,000). This sale must have appeared fortuitous for the former owner in Sabadell, Catalonia, who, having inherited the artwork, did not believe in its authenticity despite the “Degàs” signature. Consequently, it was listed with provenance documents indicating its purchase in 1940 by their ancestor Joan Llonch Salas, a collector and ex-president of Banco Sabadell.
Now attributed to Degas, some experts suggest the Impressionist pastel on cardboard, measuring approximately 19 by 24.5 inches, could be valued at around €7 million to €8 million (about $8 million). Others estimate its value could reach as high as €12 million ($13 million), according to El Nacional.
What then is the narrative behind this long-misplaced masterpiece? Michel Schulman, author of Degas’s online catalogue raisonné, embarked on a quest to uncover its history with the assistance of art historians Judith Urbano and Álvaro Pascual, and consultant Juan Arjona Rey from Consultores Rey.
The group concluded it was indeed a Degas “after a thorough analysis of pigments, a detailed study using X-rays and photographs, among other methods,” Schulman reported to the Spanish newspaper El Pais. The analysis, conducted in Madrid in July 2023, dated the artwork to the late 19th century. It was also crucial to verify that the signature was original and not added subsequently.
Schulman, who has documented 1,750 works by Degas, also posited that ‘In Praise of Makeup’ was connected to another of the French artist’s works, ‘Le client sérieux’ (The Serious Client). “Degas often derived scenes or characters in his paintings from his earlier works,” Schulman noted.
The verification process was supported by several labels on the artwork’s reverse, confirming that it entered Spain in the possession of artist Julián Bastinos, who purchased it from Degas in Paris in 1887 for 3,000 francs—a detail recorded in a letter Degas wrote to his friend, opera singer Jean-Baptiste Faure.
Bastinos later took the piece to Cairo in the 1910s, as indicated by a label on the back showing it was framed in Egypt. Following Julián’s death in 1918, the pastel was returned to Barcelona by his brother Antonio J. Bastinos.
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