Ballet dancers were a central theme of Degas’s oeuvre beginning in the 1870s; to him, the art form uniquely embodied both classical grace and modern realism. The artist—who once self- deprecatingly said, “My chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes”—adopted a more formal approach to the figure in his later years. On this sheet, visible erasures show Degas's process as he subtly shifted the positions of the two models, who appear to be adjusting invisible bodices.
Edgar Degas
French, 1834–1917
Study of Dancers, 1895–1900
Charcoal and pastel on pale- pink paper (discolored to tan)
Gray Family Collection
Gray Collection Trust, Art Institute of Chicago
Photography by Jamie Stukenberg, Professional Graphics Inc.
Austeja Mackelaite: I'm Austeja Mackelaite, the Annette and Oscar de la Renta Assistant Curator of Drawings and Prints. Nearly half of all the works that Degas produced over the course of his life were dedicated to the ballet. His early images present dancers in the studio and stage, often wearing snug bodices and lacy tutus. In this late drawing, however, the models are nude set against the blank page and divorced from a narrative context. Using a piece of charcoal, Degas drew and redrew the contours of the overlapping figures, resulting in lines that are heavy and almost tactile. The smudges and erasures around the head, left leg and arm of the woman seen from behind allow us to trace his adjustments to her position. Touches of maroon pastel in the hair give some color to this otherwise monochromatic sheet. Despite the artist's rough, bald handling, he's able precisely to convey the movements of the women as they adjust their imaginary bodices. In contrast, the Degas figures, the woman in the Boucher drawing nearby is swaddled in layers upon layers of carefully modeled drapery. She looks pensive, almost dejected, as she gazes downward. Boucher's delicate marks contrast with the unstable silhouettes of Degas' dancers, which seem to vibrate on the page.