Ballet Scene

Edgar Degas, c. 1907

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.”
Artist
Edgar Degas
Date
c. 1907
Type
Drawing
Medium
pastel on greenish transparent tracing paper
Dimensions
76.8 × 111.2 cm
Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licence
Public domain, CC0

Image description

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.”

Edgar Degas