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Edgar Degas

Ballet Girl

Maker

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

Title

Ballet Girl

Year

ca. 1886-1888

Medium

  • Pastel on blue laid paper (now faded)

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Pastel on blue laid paper (now faded)

Materials

pastel (crayon)

Dimensions

45.7 x 28.6 cm (18 x 11 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Stamped, in red ink, at LL: Degas (Lugy 658). Atelier stamp on verso: (Lugt 657).

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

23.038

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Publications

  • Journal

A Note on Degas

  • Books

Edgar Degas: Six Friends At Dieppe

  • Books

Selection V: French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

French watercolors and drawings from the Museum's collection, ca. 1800-1910

Exhibition History

Inventing Impressionism
Oct 21, 2016 – Jun 11, 2017

Label copy

In this drawing of a dancer, Degas focused on the effects of artificial light on form and movement. Using a solid line to contrast the transparency of the girl’s gauzy tutu, he reworked the dancer’s right arm and leg before settling on the gesture seen here, in which she adjusts her bodice.

The vivid blue chalk used around the dancer’s legs and chest would have matched the original color of the sheet, which has faded over time. Degas frequently used brightly hued papers to give his drawings a sense of luminosity.

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

The red stamp on the lower left of this drawing indicates that it was part of Degas’s personal collection, which was sold in 1918. Seen from above, the dancer faces right, her body bent slightly forward as she adjusts her bodice. Light penetrates her gauzy tutu from the rear right, revealing her legs underneath. Rather than detailing her appearance or physiognomy, Degas rendered her volume and outline with a solid, massive line, eliminating all that is nonessential. In passages near the dancer’s right arm and leg, the use of blue chalk served to cover the multiple contours on the now-faded blue paper, as well as to provide a shadow for the figure.

Edgar Degas
Six Friends at Dieppe
Sep 16, 2005 – Jan 15, 2006
Raid the Icebox 1 with Andy Warhol
Apr 23, 1970 – Jun 30, 1970
Master Drawing from the Museum and a Private Collection
Jun 19, 1946 – Oct 27, 1946

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
Ballet Girl, ca. 1886-1888
Pastel on blue laid paper (now faded)
45.7 x 28.6 cm (18 x 11 1/4 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 23.038

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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