Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Autograph letter signed ('Degas') to Auguste Renoir, 'Jeudi', [postmarked Paris, 12 December 1895]
In French. One page, 139 x 113mm, on a letter-card. Provenance: Sotheby's, 30 May 1979, lot 45.

Degas writes to Renoir: 'Thank you, my dear Renoir. I am free on Monday and you can let those young ladies know that they can count on their old friend'.

Je vous remercie, mon cher Renoir. Je suis libre lundi et vous pouvez prévenir ces demoiselles qu'elles peuvent compter sur leur vieil ami.

The handwriting reflects the decline in Degas's eyesight which plagued his later years. Reflecting on his old friend's argumentative nature, Renoir later wrote of Degas, 'What a creature he was, that Degas! All his friends had to leave him; I was one of the last to go, but even I couldn't stay friends until the end'.