Edgar Degas
Dancer
c. 1897-1900
Physical Qualities
Pastel and charcoal on light brown paper, Sheet: 560 x 450 mm. (22 1/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.205
Images of dancers predominate in Degas’s work at the turn of the twentieth century; his interest in depicting bodies in motion led him to render the figures of dancers in a series of awkward, yet very human, poses, as is the case with this dancer stretching amid fragments of scenery and the cropped figures of other dancers. With acid green, red-brown, teal, blue and lavender—a daring palette inspired perhaps in part by the costumes and artificial lighting of the theater—Degas explores the role of color in defining form, especially in the gauzy skirts.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, 1927; Paul Vallotton, Lausanne; 2e Vente Degas, Galerie Georges Petit, Dec. 11-13, 1918, Paris, p. 55, no. 99 (9,000/4,000 francs?).
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture', Apr. 1-Dec. 1, 1930, p. 5, no. 7.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940', June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 81.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From Ingres to Gauguin', Nov. 13-Dec. 30, 1951, p. 35, no. 106.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Man and His Years', Oct. 19-Nov. 21, 1954, p. 34, no. 94.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Manet, Degas, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt', April 18-June 3, 1962, p. 55, no. 53.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Selections from the Cone Collection', June 1974.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection," 9 May - 23 July, 1989.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Richard Kendall, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 'Degas and the Little Dancer', Feb. 7-May 1998, p. 176, no. 62; circulated to Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., May 30-Sept. 8, 1998; The Baltimore Museum of Art, Oct. 4, 1998-Jan. 3, 1999.
BMA, Cone Wing rotation, 5 February - 24 June 2007.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'A Century of Baltimore Collecting, 1840-1940', June 6-Sept. 1, 1941, p. 81.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'From Ingres to Gauguin', Nov. 13-Dec. 30, 1951, p. 35, no. 106.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Man and His Years', Oct. 19-Nov. 21, 1954, p. 34, no. 94.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Manet, Degas, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt', April 18-June 3, 1962, p. 55, no. 53.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Selections from the Cone Collection', June 1974.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Master Drawings by French Artists in the Museum's Collection," 9 May - 23 July, 1989.
Jay Fisher, BMA, "Matisse, Picasso and Friends: Masterworks on Paper from The Cone Collection," 7 June - 27 August, 1995.
Richard Kendall, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 'Degas and the Little Dancer', Feb. 7-May 1998, p. 176, no. 62; circulated to Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., May 30-Sept. 8, 1998; The Baltimore Museum of Art, Oct. 4, 1998-Jan. 3, 1999.
BMA, Cone Wing rotation, 5 February - 24 June 2007.
"The Cone Collection of Baltimore, Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, plate 19.
"Baltimore Museum of Art News," October 1949, p. 12, no. 10.
"Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, p. 65, no. 17 (1955 edition, p. 20, no. 20).
"Bringing Art to Life," The Baltimore Museum of Art, Annual Report 2005, no. 3, ill.
Inscribed: lower left stamped in red: "degas"; center verso stamped in red: "Atelier Ed Degas"; by later hand, center verso in blue pencil: "1481 Pb930"
Markings: CM: Degas Estate stamp (Lugt 658)
