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Study of a Ballet Dancer (recto); Two Studies of Dancers (verso)

ca. 1873
Not on view
This drawing is associated with a larger group of studies, dated about 1873, made for Degas’s famous paintings of ballet dancers. The confident free brushstrokes, virtuoso depiction of a shadow in front of the dancer’s left foot, and beautiful bluish green highlights on her right side showcase the artist’s skill as a draftsman. Degas’s use of color adds luminosity to the rich pink support, one of many bright-hued prepared papers with which the artist experimented during this period.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study of a Ballet Dancer (recto); Two Studies of Dancers (verso)
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1873
  • Medium: Oil with opaque watercolor on prepared pink paper (recto); oil on prepared pink paper (verso)
  • Dimensions: 17 1/2 x 12 3/8 in. (44.5 x 31.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.611
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

More Artwork
A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), Edgar Degas French, Oil on canvas
A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?)
Edgar Degas
1865
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Untitled (26 III 96), Tom Levine American, Oil pastel, charcoal, watercolor, and graphite on paper
Untitled (26 III 96)
Tom Levine
1996
Woman Having Her Hair Combed, Edgar Degas French, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
Woman Having Her Hair Combed
Edgar Degas
ca. 1886–88
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

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