Ballerina Standing at Bar

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Degas spent the greater part of his career drawing and painting dancers of the Paris Opera ballet corps. He attended not only performances but dance classes and rehearsals, where he made numerous sketches from life. Here a dancer stands at the ballet barre, dressed in a simple rehearsal outfit. Degas captures the movement of the plié in second position with firm graphite lines, indicating the solidly planted feet and rotation of the legs. It was the precision of the dancers' movements that greatly interested the artist.

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