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Edgar Degas

Grand Arabesque, Second Time, ca. 1885-1890 (cast ca. 1919–1922)

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • A.A. Hebrard, foundry or carver
  • Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, French

Title

Grand Arabesque, Second Time

Year

ca. 1885-1890 (cast ca. 1919–1922)

Medium

Bronze

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • bronze

Dimensions

42.2 x 60.6 x 27 cm (16 5/8 x 23 7/8 x 10 5/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed, behind right foot:Degas; stamped, right base, beneath extended left foot:15/i/CIRE / PERDUE / A. A. HEBRARD

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

Gift of Stephen O. Metcalf, George Pierce Metcalf and Houghton P. Metcalf

Object Number

23.315

About

Transitional poses such as this one were constant themes of Edgar Degas’s numerous sculptural studies made in wax, wire, and plastilene. Collected from his studio following his death, these models became the sources of small editions cast in bronze, including this one of a dancer posed in a grand arabesque. In the classic ballet position, the dancer bends forward while standing on one straight leg, with the opposite arm extended forward and the other arm and leg extended backward. In the 1890s the British artist Walter Sickert visited Degas in his studio and was shown the wax model for this figure. He was struck by Degas’s interest in movement, as he “turned the statuette slowly to show me the successive silhouettes thrown on a white sheet by the light of a candle.”

Signed, behind right foot:Degas; stamped, right base, beneath extended left foot:15/i/CIRE / PERDUE / A. A. HEBRARD

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Projects & Publications

Publications

Edgar Degas

Six Friends At Dieppe

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Inventing Impressionism

October 21, 2016 - June 11, 2017

Degas created numerous studies of figures in transitional poses as resources for his paintings and as guides to understanding movement. This sculpture was not intended for exhibition, but was cast in bronze after Degas’s death.

The dancer leans forward into an arabesque, extending her arms and balancing on one foot as she lifts her left leg backward. The British artist Walter Sickert (the figure standing apart from the group in Degas’s pastel Six Friends at Dieppe) saw the wax model for this work while visiting Degas’s studio, and was struck when Degas “turned the statuette slowly to show me the successive silhouettes thrown on a white sheet by the light of a candle.”

Edgar Degas

September 16, 2005 - January 15, 2006

European Painting and Sculpture, circa 1770-1937

October 18, 1991 - January 26, 1992

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Grand Arabesque, Second Time with the accession number of 23.315. To request high-resolution files or 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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