Four dancers stretch and adjust their slippers as they wait in the wings just offstage, forming a diagonal cascade across the picture. Edgar Degas was fascinated with dancers and the ballet, creating thousands of works focusing on the theme over the course of his career. He was especially interested in the movement of the human body in his images. Here, he may have actually represented a single red-haired dancer in various stages of motion as she exited the stage following a performance. She performs a series of sequential movements, leaning on the wall, turning, and eventually squatting down.
Degas was a masterful pastellist, using the chalky pigment to build up color in his drawings. The translucent layers allow the various tones to show through, creating a shimmering effect. The artist layered shades of blues, yellows, and greens to suggest the gauzy material of the dancer’s tulle skirts.
by 1923 - 1935
Ambroise Vollard (1867-1939), Paris, France, purchased from the artist [1]
1935
Theodore Schempp, Brodhead, WI, USA, purchased from Ambroise Vollard [2]
1935 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Theodore Schempp [3]
Notes:
[1] According to an invoice from Theodore Schempp, Vollard purchased the pastel from the artist and mentioned the work in a 1914 publication on his own collection [invoice dated September 12, 1935, SLAM document files]. The 1914 publication could not be located, but in 1923, the pastel was published as in the Vollard collection [Meier-Graefe, Julius. "Degas." New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923, plate CII].
[2] See note [1]. A receipt dated April 10, 1935 from Ambroise Vollard records the sale to Theodore Schempp [SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, September 6, 1935.
