Le présent mémoire propose de retracer les parcours d’Edgar Degas et d’Auguste Rodin afin de comprendre comment ces deux artistes en sont arrivés à s’intéresser aux corps féminins en mouvement, au point de faire des états de corps plutôt que des états d’âme leur sujet de prédilection. Partant du fait que le premier avait d’abord songé à renouveler la peinture d’histoire et que le second s’inspirait volontiers de sources littéraires pour ses monuments, nous avons concentré notre approche sur la perte progressive de tout substrat narratif dans leur traitement des figures féminines. Nous examinons comment ce déplacement les dispense de l’impératif de créer des personnages vraisemblables pour diriger l’intérêt vers le modèle posant et les conditions de production de l’atelier. Il en résulte un curieux renversement des procédés qui, dans la tradition académique, assignaient le talent de l’artiste à la réalisation de la beauté idéale. Alors que les corps de femmes représentés par les deux artistes se livrent à des contorsions qui les défigurent avant de les faire éclater en fragments, Degas et Rodin multiplient les traces de leur dialogue avec le matériau et signalent leur volonté d’en finir avec certaines conventions de leur médium. Ces choix ne peuvent pas s’expliquer en dehors des bouleversements socioéconomiques importants qui traversent la période, affectant la condition féminine mais aussi celle des artistes, de leurs institutions et de leur marché. / This thesis proposes to follow the development of Edgar Degas’ and Auguste Rodin’s work to understand how those two artists came to take a quasi-exclusive interest in female bodies, to the point that physical rather than emotional states became the main focus of their oeuvre. Considering that the former was tempted by history painting and that the latter did not hesitate, at first, to borrow from literary sources for his monuments, we focus our approach on the progressive elimination of all narrative subtexts in their representations of female figures. We examine how this move displaced the interest from character and role playing to focus on the physical presence of the model and on the working conditions prevailing in the atelier. This results in a complete overthrowing of the academic rules enrolling artistic talent in the service of ideal beauty. While their female bodies become so contorted that they end up disfigured before exploding into fragments, the two artists make themselves more present as the producers of their work, leaving traces of their manipulations and structural inventions in their mediums. These strategies are of course inseparable from the important socioeconomic changes that mark the period and modify not only the condition of women but also the status of artists, the authority of art institutions and the nature of the art market.

Throughout the history of art, the pastel medium has been considered a medium of secondary interest. Despite its pulsating textures, vibrant colors, and unique receptivity to touch, this medium has been recognized above all for its swiftness in stroke and subsequent ability of the artist to record images of fleeting moments and ideas almost instantaneously. The focus on the advantageous rapidity of the pastel, however, hindered the pastel medium's potential as a mere preliminary technique to working with grander mediums, such as oil paint, thus failing to recognize the prominence of pastel in capturing character. This research endeavor focuses on a very specific era with comparably high usage of pastel-- late nineteenth-century Paris--and the distinctive characteristic that defines said era--the hyper-sexuality of the Parisian prostitute. The eminent presence of prostitution and the consequential iconography of female sexuality in late nineteenth-century Paris defined the world of French Bohemia and seeped into the artistic exchange of the era. Although holding a traditionally subsidiary position to other historically primary mediums, the pastel medium prevailed in communicating the sexuality, sensuality, and promiscuity of the sinful female in Paris at the close of the century. The pastel works of prominent artists in the nightlife milieu such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas which revolve around the theme of prostitution serve as key illustrations of the distinctive ability of the ephemeral medium to capture the mood and personality--and therefore the sensual quintessence--of its subject. Through contextual and visual analysis, this research endeavor thus ultimately aims to lift the traditionally secondary pastel medium to one of impressive proportions, emphasizing its unique advantages and raising its overall credence.

Based on the author's dissertation (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-252).

This thesis provides an overview of the engagement with the material culture of Assyria, unearthed in the Middle East from 1845 onwards by British and French archaeologists. It sets the artistic discovery of Assyria within the visual culture of the period through reference not only to painting but also to illustrated newspapers, books, journals, performances and popular entertainments. The thesis presents a more vigorous, interlinked, and widespread engagement than previous studies have indicated, primarily by providing a comprehensive corpus of artistic responses. The artistic connections between Britain and France were close. Works influenced by Assyria were published, exhibited and reviewed in the contemporary press, on both sides of the English Channel. Some artists, such as Gustave Doré, successfully maintained careers in both London and Paris. It is therefore often meaningless to speak of a wholly ‘French’ or ‘British’ reception, since these responses were coloured by artistic crosscurrents that operated in both directions, a crucial theme to be explored in this dissertation. In Britain, print culture also transported to the regions, away from large metropolitan centres, knowledge of Assyria and Assyrian-inspired art through its appeal to the market for biblical images. Assyria benefited from the explosion in graphical communication. This thesis examines the artistic response to Assyria within a chronological framework. It begins with an overview of the initial period in the 1850s that traces the first British discoveries. Chapter Two explores the different artistic turn Assyria took in the 1860s. Chapter Three deals with the French reception in the second half of the nineteenth century. Chapter Four concludes the British reception up to 1900, and Chapter Five deals with the twentieth century. The thesis contends that far from being a niche subject engaged with a particular group of artists, Assyrian art was a major rediscovery that affected all fields of visual culture in the nineteenth century.