Dancer Adjusting Her Slipper
Original title: Dancer Adjusting Her Slipper
kurzbeschreibung
Edgar Degas made this graphite drawing in 1873, bringing it to life with black and white chalk on pink wove paper. A ballet dancer is seen from the front, balancing on one leg while adjusting her shoe. The sheet is squared for transfer, indicating it was prepared for copying onto another surface.
Description
A dancer stands upright on one leg, bending one hand down to her shoe. She wears a short ballet skirt, her legs bare. Graphite lines outline the contours, while black and white chalk create shading. The plain background makes the figure stand out. In the lower left is the signature 'Degas'; in the upper right, a handwritten note that is partly hard to read.
Context
In the early 1870s Degas turned increasingly to the ballet world, and this study dates from that period. The pink-toned paper is a hallmark of his preparatory drawings. The squaring suggests the sheet served as a model for transfer to another medium, perhaps a painting or a print. Today the work belongs to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Impact
The loose, sketchy linework captures the dancer's movement on the spot. Because the drawing is limited to shades of gray and the background is neutral, the pose becomes the focus. The delicate chalk work conveys an intimate, direct observation of the moment.
Technique
Graphite forms the base, with black and white chalk adding accents. The pink woven paper has lost color strength over time, which alters the effect. A grid of squares allows for a scaled transfer.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)