Dancer Kneeling, Seen from the Back
1880/85
Medium
Charcoal with pastel on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 32.2 × 23.5 cm (12 11/16 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
charcoal
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80611
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, Edgar Degas captured the graceful world of ballet dancers with unparalleled intimacy, and *Dancer Kneeling, from the Back* (. 1880/85) exemplifies his fascination. This intimate study, rendered in charcoal with pastel on cream wove paper32.2 × 23.5 cm), hails from the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings collection. Degas a key figure in Impressionism yet distinctly realist in his approach, frequented the Paris Opéra, sketching dancers in unguarded moments to reveal their physicality and poise. Viewed from behind, the kneeling dancer's form emphasizes anatomica...
About the Artist
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas · 1834–1917
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, born on July 19, 1834, in Paris to a prosperous banking family, was the eldest of five children. His mother, Célestine Musson, a Creole from New Orleans whose father Germain Musson had roots in Haiti, died when Degas was thirteen, leaving his father Augustin and unmarried uncles to guide him. Educated at the elite Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he earned a baccalauréat in...