id: 95271
accession number: 1916.1043
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1043
updated: 2024-03-26 01:56:11.399000
Dancers, c. 1896. Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917). Pastel with charcoal on tracing paper mounted on paper and backed with gray board; sheet: 55.7 x 41.4 cm (21 15/16 x 16 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1043
title: Dancers
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1896
creation date earliest: 1891
creation date latest: 1901
current location:
creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
copyright:
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culture: France, 19th century
technique: pastel with charcoal on tracing paper mounted on paper and backed with gray board
department: Drawings
collection: DR - French
type: Drawing
find spot:
catalogue raisonne: Lemoisne 1249
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CREATORS
* Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) - artist
Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence and attended life classes at the Villa Medici in Rome. A visit to Normandy in 1861 may have introduced him to the racetrack. In Paris he continued to study at the Louvre, where he met Manet (q.v.) in 1862. Apart from his continuous interest in portraiture and history painting, Degas began to pay attention to subjects of modern life. Between 1865 and 1870, he exhibited at the Salon. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, he enlisted in the artillery, but because of his poor eyesight he served (with Manet) in the infantry. After the war he traveled first to London and, in 1872-73, visited his uncle and brothers who had a cotton business in New Orleans. Degas participated in the first impressionist exhibition of 1874. He continued to exhibit with these artists until 1886 but never completely considered himself a member of the group, preferring to call himself a realist or naturalist. While many of the impressionists painted en plein air, Degas worked with models in his studio and, later in his career, from his imagination. In addition to painting, he experimented often with monotypes, engraving, pastels, sculpture, and photography. He traveled extensively-London, Naples, Spain, Morocco, and Switzerland-but continued to draw his subject matter from modern-day Paris. Other recurring themes would be the female nude and the ballet dancer. After the impressionist exhibition of 1886, Degas no longer participated in group shows. Instead he sold his works to private dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. In the 1890s he began his own art collection, which, besides many works on paper, included paintings by such artists as Ingres, Cézanne (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), and van Gogh (q.v.). His own art at the time became characterized by broader strokes of paint, charcoal, and pastel and the use of more vibrant colors, partly because of problems with his vision. His failing eyesight and poor health caused him to abandon his pursuit of art during the last years of his life.
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measurements: Sheet: 55.7 x 41.4 cm (21 15/16 x 16 5/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: inscribed, lower left, in pastel: Degas
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: French Art Since Eighteen Hundred
opening date: 1929-11-08T05:00:00
French Art Since Eighteen Hundred. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8-December 8, 1929).
title: The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition
opening date: 1936-06-26T04:00:00
The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition
opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00
The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
title: French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections
opening date: 1942-01-06T05:00:00
French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6-February 15, 1942).
title: 19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans
opening date: 1943-06-22T04:00:00
19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943).
title: Works of Edgar Degas
opening date: 1947-02-05T05:00:00
Works of Edgar Degas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 5-March 9, 1947).
title: 35th Anniversary Exhibition
opening date: 1951-06-20T04:00:00
35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).
title: The Dance in Art
opening date: 1955-05-20T04:00:00
The Dance in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-August 17, 1955).
title: Art and the Stage
opening date: 1981-05-22T04:00:00
Art and the Stage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 22-August 16, 1981).
title: Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960
opening date: 1987-09-16T04:00:00
Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
title: Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum
opening date: 1991-06-07T04:00:00
Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
title: Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2000-08-27T00:00:00
Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000).
title: Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement
opening date: 2004-02-15T00:00:00
Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 15-May 16, 2004).
title: Masterworks from The Phillips Collection
opening date: 2005-02-20T00:00:00
Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 29, 2005).
title: Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris
opening date: 2012-10-04T00:00:00
Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in Nineteenth-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013).
title: Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2016-11-19T05:00:00
Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2016-March 19, 2017).
title: Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2023-01-20T05:00:00
Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Cleveland Art Loan Exposition. Cleveland School of Art, Kinney & Levan Building, Cleveland (November 25–December 17, 1913).', 'opening_date': '1913-12-17T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Inaugural Exhibition. Minneapolis Institute of Arts (January 7–February 7, 1915).', 'opening_date': '1915-02-07T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Studio of the artist, sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris
date: 1896-1897
footnotes:
citations:
(Durand-Ruel, Paris, transferred to Durand-Ruel, New York
date: 1897-1898
footnotes:
citations:
(Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Jeptha H. Wade, Cleveland, OH)
date: 1898-1900
footnotes:
citations:
Mr. [1857–1926] and Mrs. [1857–1917] Jeptha H. Wade II, Cleveland, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1900-1916
footnotes:
citations:
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1916-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Illustrated Catalogue of the Cleveland Art Loan Exposition. Exh. cat. Cleveland: Cleveland School of Art, 1913.
page number: Mentioned: no. 45C
url:
Catalogue of the Inaugural Exhibition. Exh. cat. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1915.
page number: Mentioned: p. 36, no. 169
url:
"The Wade Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 1 (1917): 3-12.
page number: Mentioned: p. 3
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136053
“Lists of Objects in the Exhibition.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 16, no. 9 (1929): 159–75.
page number: Mentioned: p. 167
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137248.
Milliken, William M. “The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Art News 34, no. 37 (June 13, 1936): 7-14.
page number: Mentioned: p. 14
url:
Wilenski, R. H. Modern French Painters. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1940
page number: Mentioned: p. 336
url:
Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son œuvre. Paris: Brame et de Hauke, 1946.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 3, 726–27, no. 1249
url:
Armitage, Merle. Dance Memoranda. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1946.
page number: Reproduced: p. 166
url:
Francis, Henry Sayles. Works by Degas. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1947.
page number: Mentioned: p. 10, 18, no. 49; Reproduced: pl. XLII
url:
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 509
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n94
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page number: Reproduced: p. 174
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n198
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page number: Reproduced: p. 174
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n198
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 214
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n234
Breitman, Ellen. Art and the Stage. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.
page number: Mentioned: p. 45-48, no. 25; Reproduced: p. 46
url:
Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 100
url:
DeGrazia, Diane and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page number: Mentioned: p. 1; Reproduced: p. 2
url:
DeGrazia, Diane. “The Evolution of a Collection: Drawings in Cleveland.” Master Drawings 38, no. 3 (Fall 2000): 249-60.
page number: Mentioned: p. 249; Reproduced: p. 251
url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1554433
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1043/1916.1043_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1043/1916.1043_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1043/1916.1043_full.tif