A dancer wearing a tutu, holding a pose
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In heavy black chalk lines on pale gray paper, a woman in three quarter profile facing right grips a wall-mounted handrail with her left hand. Her hair tied up in a bun and wearing a tutu, she holds her right held down and out at her side. Holding herself straight but bending her legs at the knee with her feet wide apart and turned outward. At left, touches of white highlight her kneecap and lower leg, while dark shading indicates shadow on her opposite side.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2005.134
People
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French (Paris, France 1834 - 1917 Paris, France)
Title
Plié in Second Position at the Barre
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Study of a Dancer
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
19th century
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/19260

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black and white prepared chalk on pink modern laid paper, faded to off-white
Dimensions
30.8 x 23.4 cm (12 1/8 x 9 3/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • estate stamp: verso: Degas Atelier stamp [Lugt 657]
  • inscription: verso, lower right, blue crayon: Ph 1106 v. 546
  • exhibition label: formerly back of frame: PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART / PARKWAY AT 26TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA 30 / ARTIST E. Degas / TITLE Ballet Girl / EXHIBITION T. Edward Hanley Collection / LENDER T. Edward Hanley / ADDRESS OF LENDER Bradford, Pa.
  • exhibition label: formerly back of frame: Fogg Art Museum, T. Loan, H. 32 [this is TL14096.54; works from the Hanley collection sent to Wildenstein]
  • gallery label: formerly back of frame: HAMMER GALLERIES NEW YORK No. 20015-4 [circular stamp]
  • inscription: upper right, black chalk: Plié à la seconde / à la barre
  • inscription: formerly back of frame, ink: Vente II / #214
  • label: formerly back of frame: Degas No. 14334a / Etude de danseuse / dessin

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Degas atelier sale II [Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Dec. 11-13, 1918, lot 214a, repr.; Lugt 657)]. [Durand-Ruel, Paris]. T. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania (by 1937). Private collection, New York, to; [Hammer Galleries, New York, in partnership with Stephen Hahn Gallery, New York, 1966]. Richard B. Sisson, bequest; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2005

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Richard B. Sisson and through the generosity of Anthony and Celeste Meier
Accession Year
2005
Object Number
2005.134
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • The T. Edward Hanley Collection: Drawings, exh. cat., Albright Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY, 1946), no. 21
  • Lillian Browse, Degas Dancers, The Studio Publications Incorporated (New York, NY, 1949), no. 147, repr.
  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings from the Hanley Collection, exh. cat., Wildenstein & Company (New York, 1961), no. 54
  • Richard Kendall and Jill DeVonyar, Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts (London, 2011), cat. no. 51, pp. 135-137, repr. p. 136
  • Paintings, Drawings, and Oil Sketches 1810-1930, auct. cat., W. M. Brady & Co., Inc. (New York, 2016), under cat. no. 31, fig. 41
  • Henri Loyrette, Degas at the Opéra, exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay (Paris, 2019), pp. 166, 313, cat. no. 163, repr. p. 168 as fig. 163

Exhibition History

  • Exhibition of the Collection of T. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 12/01/1937 - 01/31/1938
  • The T. Edward Hanley Collection: Drawings, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 10/04/1946 - 11/03/1946
  • T. Edward Hanley Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 02/08/1957 - 04/28/1957
  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings from the Hanley Collection, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 11/22/1961 - 12/30/1961; Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 01/24/1962 - 04/15/1962
  • Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 09/17/2011 - 12/11/2011
  • Degas at the Opera, National Gallery of Art, Landover, 03/01/2020 - 10/12/2020

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu