What can Payne Fine Arts add to the biography of Edgar Degas, one of the most famous Impressionists? His scenes of Parisian life, from the ballet to the racetrack, are well-known. What may be new to many is his intense interest in printmaking, especially etching, to the point of having a printing press installed in his home. Offered here are two works by the master.

Le Sportsman Montant à Cheval is one of Degas’ most sought-after equestrian prints. This is an exceedingly rare restrike of the canceled 1856 plate, one of 150 published by Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1919, two years after Degas’ death.

According to several sources, only four lifetime impressions of Sportsman are known. Degas was wont to cancel an etching plate after a few impressions were printed. In collecting Degas etchings, you are collecting canceled plates.

Mlle. Nathalie Wolonska is also from the 1919 Vollard edition. According to several sources, only two impressions of the etching were made in 1860-1861 before it was canceled. The identity of the subject of the portrait is open to discussion despite the title.