Lot Essay
The present drawing is a study for the figure of Eugénie Fiocre, the subject of Mlle Fiocre dans le ballet de 'La Source' (Lemoisne, vol. II, no. 146; coll. The Brooklyn Museum). A première danseuse with the Théatre Impérial de l'Opéra, Paris, Mlle Fiocre was twenty-one at the time she created the role of the cruel Georgian princess Nourreda in La Source, which opened on November 12, 1866. Ludwig Minkus and Léo Delibes provided the score; Arthur Saint-Léon choreographed the ballet, and with Charles Nuitter wrote the book.
Degas began work on the painting in the summer of 1867. He depicts the first scene of the ballet, in which Nourreda appears by a spring of water which flows from a mountainside. The sets were remarkable at that time because of the complex hydraulic apparatus which pumped water through the cardboard scenery. Although it has been long assumed that Degas portrays Mlle Fiocre's character in a brief moment of repose after her energetic entry dance, Ann Dumas (op. cit.) believes that Degas has actually captured a pause during a rehearsal. The present drawing is probably among the first of many studies and shows Mlle Fiocre clad in loose robes; Degas concentrates on her languorous expression. In later pastel and oil sketches Mlle Fiocre is shown in her full Georgian costume, although it is likely that Degas posed a studio model in her place.
Mlle Fiocre dans le ballet de 'La Source' forms an important bridge between Degas's great history paintings of the 1860s and later works in which the stage is his primary subject. Degas draws on an earlier nineteenth century fascination with historic and Oriental subjects, as well as the Romantic interest in dramatic moments drawn from stage works, to create a complex, resonant composition which is spontaneous and casually observed, mixing artifice and realism to express a new, more modern sensibility. The painting was shown at the 1868 Salon under the title Portrait de Mlle Eugénie Fiocre à propos de la ballet 'La Source'.
Degas began work on the painting in the summer of 1867. He depicts the first scene of the ballet, in which Nourreda appears by a spring of water which flows from a mountainside. The sets were remarkable at that time because of the complex hydraulic apparatus which pumped water through the cardboard scenery. Although it has been long assumed that Degas portrays Mlle Fiocre's character in a brief moment of repose after her energetic entry dance, Ann Dumas (op. cit.) believes that Degas has actually captured a pause during a rehearsal. The present drawing is probably among the first of many studies and shows Mlle Fiocre clad in loose robes; Degas concentrates on her languorous expression. In later pastel and oil sketches Mlle Fiocre is shown in her full Georgian costume, although it is likely that Degas posed a studio model in her place.
Mlle Fiocre dans le ballet de 'La Source' forms an important bridge between Degas's great history paintings of the 1860s and later works in which the stage is his primary subject. Degas draws on an earlier nineteenth century fascination with historic and Oriental subjects, as well as the Romantic interest in dramatic moments drawn from stage works, to create a complex, resonant composition which is spontaneous and casually observed, mixing artifice and realism to express a new, more modern sensibility. The painting was shown at the 1868 Salon under the title Portrait de Mlle Eugénie Fiocre à propos de la ballet 'La Source'.