Six pink-skinned ballerinas stretch of practice in this horizontal pastel drawing. The scene is roughly sketched so some details, like the women’s faces, are indistinct. They all have brown hair and costumes with sleeveless bodices and knee-length tutus. Three dancers cluster close to us. Two at the front have tutus shaded with peacock blue and amethyst purple and dotted with spring green. The bodices of these two and the one standing behind them are copper orange. The woman to our right holds both hands to the small of her back. Another touches her hair with both hands, and the third stands with her feet apart in fourth position, toes pointing outward, and hands clasped gracefully down in front of her. The other three dancers wear pale pink bodices and tutus that match the color of their skin. Taking up the left half of the composition and moving slightly back in space, one dancer leans forward with one arm raised, and the other two bend double to brush one hand by their feet. The floor is tawny brown. The background is loosely drawn with strokes of lime green, pale pink, teal blue, and sand brown. The artist’s name appeared in the lower left corner, “Degas.”
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Six pink-skinned ballerinas stretch of practice in this horizontal pastel drawing. The scene is roughly sketched so some details, like the women’s faces, are indistinct. They all have brown hair and costumes with sleeveless bodices and knee-length tutus. Three dancers cluster close to us. Two at the front have tutus shaded with peacock blue and amethyst purple and dotted with spring green. The bodices of these two and the one standing behind them are copper orange. The woman to our right holds both hands to the small of her back. Another touches her hair with both hands, and the third stands with her feet apart in fourth position, toes pointing outward, and hands clasped gracefully down in front of her. The other three dancers wear pale pink bodices and tutus that match the color of their skin. Taking up the left half of the composition and moving slightly back in space, one dancer leans forward with one arm raised, and the other two bend double to brush one hand by their feet. The floor is tawny brown. The background is loosely drawn with strokes of lime green, pale pink, teal blue, and sand brown. The artist’s name appeared in the lower left corner, “Degas.”

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

Ballet Scene

Edgar Degas

Date
c. 1907
Medium
pastel on greenish transparent tracing paper
Dimensions
overall: 76.8 x 111.2 cm (30 1/4 x 43 3/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1963.10.16
Credit line
Chester Dale Collection
Time span
1901 to 1925
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • occupation
  • genre
  • Impressionist
  • Dance
  • Ballet
Provenance

Atelier Degas, Vente 1:210; (Jacques Seligmann et Cie, Paris); (sale, New York, Hotel Plaza, 27 January 1921, no. 57); Scott and Fowles, New York (sale, American Art Association, 19 November 1926, no. 41); Chester Dale, New York, 1926; gift to NGA, 1963.

Inscription

lower left Degas atelier stamp (Lugt 657)

Watermarks

Canson-Montgolfier

NGA object ID 46491. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.