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Three Dancers Preparing for Class

after 1878
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 816
The seated dancer in this pastel was derived from a study dated December 1878 of the fifteen-year-old Melina Darde. That drawing and those which explored the poses of the two dancers in the foreground belonged to a stock of figure drawings that Degas used for his larger compositions. There is another variant of this pastel in a private collection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Three Dancers Preparing for Class
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: after 1878
  • Medium: Pastel on buff-colored wove paper
  • Dimensions: 21 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (54.6 x 52.1 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.558
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Huit Sonnets. . .Illustré de dix-nuef dessins inédits de Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Wittenborn and Co., La Jeune Parque
1946
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl, Edgar Degas French, Aquatint, drypoint, and etching; printed from canceled plate
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl
Edgar Degas
ca. 1879
At the Café des Ambassadeurs, Edgar Degas French, Etching, softground, drypoint, and aquatint; fifth (final) state; canceled plate
At the Café des Ambassadeurs
Edgar Degas
1879–80
Greek Landscape, Edgar Degas French, Etching (only state; impression from cancelled plate)
Greek Landscape
Edgar Degas
1856
On Stage III, Edgar Degas French, Softground etching,drypoint, and roulette on wove paper; fourth state of five
On Stage III
Edgar Degas
1876–77

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