Standing Dancer Holding Tutu Skirt

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This sketch, like many of the hundreds of Degas's dancer studies, never appeared in a completed composition. Drawn from life, the sheet records one of a variety of ballet positions. The dancer appears to have been in action when Degas drew her—his marks show a change of position in the forward, stepping foot and the raising of the tutu. Degas was preoccupied with the human figure in movement, and these dancer studies underscore the importance of drawing in his painting practice. The great neoclassical painter Ingres is said to have once instructed the young painter: "Draw lines, young man, draw lines."

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