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

Edgar Degas

ca. 1873 · Oil with opaque watercolor on prepared pink paper (recto); oil on prepared pink paper (verso) · Robert Lehman Collection

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.

Artist

Edgar Degas

Date

ca. 1873

Medium

Oil with opaque watercolor on prepared pink paper (recto); oil on prepared pink paper (verso)

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975