Edgar Degas (Paris, 1834 - 1917, Paris)
A Ballerina (Danseuse à la barre), about 1880
Black and ochre chalk and pink and white pastel on paper, 30 x 22.8 cm (11 13/16 x 8 15/16 in.)
A full-length, horizontal sketch of a single ballerina standing erect at the barre, done in black and ochre chalk with touches of pink and white pastel on beige-toned paper. The sketch is titled A Ballerina by Edgar Degas. The dancer stands on point on her right toe and her left leg and foot are raised in front to knee level, turned outward and pointed, her muscular calves revealed by black shading. The point shoes are filled in pale pink and white pastel, tied with ribbons across her arches and around her ankles. They are the only points of color in the piece. The ballerina’s right hand and forearm are resting on the barre, all roughly suggested by seemingly hastily sketched horizontal lines. Her left arm is raised about her head with each finger of her left hand articulated. Her profile is in three-quarters view from her left with her sharply pointed nose, thin lips, forward looking left eye, long neck, and curly hair lining her face, sketched in. She wears a sleeveless, scooped-neck tutu, form-fitting through her bodice, cinched at the waist and giving way to layers of a knee-length tulle skirt. A simple black line parallel with the barre suggests the point where the wall meets the floor. The entire sketch is schematically drawn with evidence of incomplete erasure of earlier positions of the raised left foot, seemingly a preparatory drawing for another work. In the upper left hand corner an inscription in black chalk reads, “bras gauche mauvais, en chercher un autre.” In the lower left hand corner the artist has signed his name in red, “Degas.”
Macknight Room
Commentary
Edgar Degas was interested in the movement of ballerinas and created about 1,500 paintings and works on paper of dancers. Apparently unhappy with how he drew the dancer’s left arm in this work, he made a note at the top “bad left arm, looking for another one.” However, something about the drawing must have appealed to Degas as he took the time to enhance the drawing with pastel. Our eyes are drawn to the pointe shoes highlighted in white.Isabella Stewart Gardner supported performing artists and this drawing likely appealed to her love of the stage. She purchased it through her friend, artist Louis Kronberg, who also took inspiration from ballet. Isabella displayed several of his drawings of ballerinas nearby.