Dancer Tying Her Slipper
1887
Edgar Degas was obsessed with the unglamorous reality of ballet, and this sketch proves it. Instead of a poised prima ballerina, we see a dancer hunched over in an awkward, top-down view, frantically tying her shoe. The large blue bow on her back pops against the white tutu, while the chalky pastel strokes give her skin a warm, sunlit glow. It feels less like a formal portrait and more like a candid snapshot taken from the rafters of a rehearsal studio. Degas often cropped his subjects this way to emphasize the geometry of the body in motion—or in this case, the tedious preparation before the motion begins.
- Technique
- Pastel
- Material
- Paper
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