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Dancers
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Degas depicted the ballet in more than 1,000 paintings, prints, pastels, and sculptures. He preferred private, offstage moments to glamorous curtain calls or artfully constructed compositions. Here, three dancers stretch together in the wings, unaware of the viewer’s presence. Powdery layers of yellow, orange, and pink pastel create a rough surface characteristic of Degas’s late work in the medium. He invented special techniques that allowed him to build layer upon layer of color with varying degrees of opacity and transparency. This pastel’s rich surface and intense, vibrating palette is the result of such innovative methods.
| Artist / Maker | Edgar Degas |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1896 |
| Culture / Origin | France, 19th century |
| Medium | pastel with charcoal on tracing paper mounted on paper and backed with gray board |
| Dimensions | Sheet: 55.7 x 41.4 cm (21 15/16 x 16 5/16 in.) |
| Department | Drawings |
| Type | Drawing |
About the Artist
Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
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