The artwork “Steep Coast” by Edgar Degas, created in 1892, is a pastel landscape residing in a private collection. Measuring 42 by 55 centimeters, it belongs to the Impressionist movement, showcasing Degas’s foray into the genre of landscape.
In the artwork, Degas depicts a rugged coastal scene marked by dynamic forms and a vivid interplay of color. The high vantage point provides a sweeping view of the coastline, with the sea stretching calmly to the horizon. The pastel medium allows for a softness and subtlety in the rendering of the landscape’s features, with gentle strokes and a nuanced palette evoking the texture of the cliffside and the play of light across its surface. Degas’s composition expertly balances the vastness of the seascape against the detailed rendering of the earth, inviting viewers to contemplate the natural world’s serene beauty and wildness. The signature “Degas” is discernible in the lower right-hand corner, serving as a testament to the artist’s hand at work on this serene depiction of coastal magnitude.
