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Edgar Degas

Dancer with a Bouquet

Maker

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

Title

Dancer with a Bouquet

Year

ca. 1877-1880

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

pastel, gouache

Dimensions

40.3 x 50.5 cm (15 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed in LL corner: Degas.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

42.213

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Inventing Impressionism
Oct 21, 2016 – Jun 11, 2017

Label copy

This image of a dancer holding a large bouquet on stage originated as a print. Degas first created a monotype-an ink drawing that he transferred onto a sheet of damp paper. (The faint embossed outline of the printing plate is still visible around the margin of the drawing.) After the monotype print was complete, Degas drew over it with bright pastel. He also added a strip of paper along the bottom of the print to expand the composition vertically, allowing for a fuller depiction of the female spectator at lower right. This unusual process, used often by Degas, allowed him to both carefully plan and experiment with his compositions.

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

Label copy

Degas’s pastels provide stimulating sources of study for any art or design student investigating light, form, and composition. In this work, footlights set aglow the young dancer with a bouquet at center stage. Behind her stand two groups of ballerinas, which Degas depicted with lengthy passages of bright orange, blue, and green pastel punctuated by the occasional dot of a bright flower. As a foil to these brilliant colors, Degas bathed the immediate foreground-a balcony and spectator-in shadowy brown and black gouache. Degas began the composition with a monotype (a work whose technique allows only one printing), over which he drew with pastel. He also added a strip of paper at the bottom of the sheet in order to accommodate the addition of the figure and her dramatic fan, leaving one to wonder if she were a compositional afterthought.

Edgar Degas
Six Friends at Dieppe
Sep 16, 2005 – Jan 15, 2006
Japonisme
The Influence of Japanese Art on the West
Nov 04, 1994 – Jan 22, 1995
Exchange Exhibition of Paintings from Rose Museum, Brandeis University
Feb 16, 1967 – Apr 02, 1967

Image use

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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)
Dancer with a Bouquet, ca. 1877-1880
Pastel and gouache over monotype on paper
40.3 x 50.5 cm (15 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 42.213

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