# Ploughed Field Bordered by Trees

- By: Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
- Date: c. 1892
- Medium: Pastel, over color monotype, on off-white wove paper, laid down on cream card
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: Image: 25.3 × 34.5 cm (10 × 13 5/8 in.); Sheet: 27 × 35.9 cm (10 11/16 × 14 3/16 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/185805)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/c0dfe78c-a001-d12a-7969-4098324520c8/full/843,/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This work shows how Degas adapted his monotype prints. First, on the printing plate, he manipulated diluted oil paint with cloth pads and coarse bristle brushes. Having transferred these textural effects to the paper, he added pastel over the monotype, lending definition to the leaves and branches of the trees.

In November 1892, Degas’s monotype landscapes were the subject of an exhibition at the gallery of Paul Durand-Ruel. One critic heralded it as the “event of the season.” The show included between 24 and 26 images of this kind; the art dealer purchased them all, at the considerable price of 1000 francs each.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0