EDGAR DEGAS | Danseuse

Jeanne Fèvre, Nice (the artist's niece; and sold: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, June 12, 1934, lot 100)
Private Collection (acquired circa the 1950s)
Thence by descent

Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. II, Paris, 1946, no. 604, illustrated p. 343

Executed on blue-colored laid paper which has been laid down to a supporting sheet. The sheet is mounted to a board at multiple places along the bottom, left and top edge. The left edge of the sheet has been unevenly cut. There are several artist's pinholes in the upper left and upper right corners. The original blue color of the paper is faded, as is typical with Degas works on paper. The sheet is slightly dirty and lightly discolored along the edges. The original blue color has likely faded. There is a two inch flattened crease in the upper left corner. There is a small loss to the lower right corner. There are some remnants of an adhesive along the top edge. The work is in good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Degas made several studies of dancers in groups of three around 1880, depicting his subject from both front and behind. The figure in the present work features on the right-hand side of the large-scale pastel, Trois Danseuses, and in terms of her unconventional beauty or jolie-laide qualities, bears similarities to his famous sculpture of La Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, also conceived circa 1880 (see fig. 1). Far from traditional portraits or voyeuristic studies, Degas' dancers are in a canon of their own. Generally depicted away from the stage during informal moments, the dancers are often portrayed in contorted postures or from an unexpected vantage point. Degas firmly objected the classification as "the painter of dancing girls", explaining that his chief interest lay in rendering the dancer's movements rather than the women themselves, irregardless of whether they were elegantly poised or precariously balanced.

Degas managed to capture the world of the ballet so successfully that few painters have dared to revisit the theme since, and nowhere is his meticulous intensity more evident than in the preparatory studies. “No art is less spontaneous than mine. Everything I do is the outcome of long reflection, of my study of the masters and more besides. A matter of inspiration, temperament, dogged observation” (the artist quoted in Degas (exhibition catalogue), Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 1960, n.p.). 

The 1934 sale of works on paper belonging to Jeanne Fèvre, the artist's niece, has furnished the collections of museums across the world, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art to the National Gallery of Canada and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.