Edgar Degas

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Edgar Degas

1834-1917

Seated Dancer

1871-1872

Oil paint over graphite on pink paper.

10 15/16 x 8 11/16 inches (279 x 222 mm)

Thaw Collection.

2017.54

Notes:

Watermark: none.
Using dark washes of thinned oil paint to throw the figure into relief, Degas expertly appropriated the tone of the paper itself to highlight the dancer's back. This sheet is one of five surviving studies related to the artist's canvas Dance Class at the Opéra on the Rue le Peletier (1872; Musée d'Orsay, Paris). Typical of Degas's dynamic working method, the figure does not correspond exactly to her appearance in the final painting. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"

Provenance:

Atelier Degas, Vente Degas II, 11 December 1918, no. 231b, repr.; sale, Paris, René de Gas, 10 November 1927, no. 23b, repr.; Rodier; Galerie Georges Petit Paris; Wildenstein & Co., New York; John Nicholas Brown, Providence; deposited with Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 1941-46; heirs of John Nicholas Brown to 1986; David Tunick Inc., New York; Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw, New York.

Associated names:

Gas, René, former owner.
Brown, John Nicholas, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.

Bibliography:

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 80, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 77.
Degas and America, High Museum, Atlanta, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2001.
From Mantegna to Picasso: Drawings from the Thaw Collection at The Pierpont Morgan Library, Royal Academy, London, 1997, no. 72.

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Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection

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Drawings and Prints