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拍品专文
Executed circa 1890, this work belongs to a series of preparatory studies for the pastel Danseuses dans les coulisses (1890, L.1015, fig. 1).
Lemoisne (Degas et son oeuvre. Peintures et pastels, Paris, 1947, vol. III, pp. 591-593) records four bozzetti for the finished composition (L.1016-1019), all centred around the contrapposto of the two dancers, caught off-guard, in the moment preceding their entry onto the stage. In the final pastel, the dancers' skirts are blue, and their corsets a vivid orange; the first dancer seems already fully taken by her official role - her head raised, her mouth arched in a stiff smile; whilst her partner is still backstage, her head informally tilted to the side, ready to follow the first ballerina. This tension between 'on-stage' and 'off-stage' is what fascinated Degas in the conception of the dancing duet: perfecting the subtle play between the two ballerinas took him much detailed preparation, of which the present pastel is an important step.
In this study, Degas focussed mainly on the definition of the postures. As was his custom, he reduced the elements of the composition to the stylised shapes of the dancers' bodies, rendered with the thick richness of the black charcoal, which allowed him a fluid freedom of line. The inclination of the first dancer's back, her hands firmly on her hips, the severe perfection of her right leg and foot; the more relaxed movement of the second dancer; the interplay between the two - these were Degas' concerns in the present work. He does not concentrate on their facial features, nor their 'official' expressions, favouring the portrayal of the 'women' rather than of the 'dancers'. In contrast with the intellectual destination of the work, he lit up the composition with an expressionist stroke of colour: the red hair of the first dancer, casually gathered in a low pony-tail, not yet caught in a strict bun - another significant hint at the informality of the present scene.
Lemoisne (Degas et son oeuvre. Peintures et pastels, Paris, 1947, vol. III, pp. 591-593) records four bozzetti for the finished composition (L.1016-1019), all centred around the contrapposto of the two dancers, caught off-guard, in the moment preceding their entry onto the stage. In the final pastel, the dancers' skirts are blue, and their corsets a vivid orange; the first dancer seems already fully taken by her official role - her head raised, her mouth arched in a stiff smile; whilst her partner is still backstage, her head informally tilted to the side, ready to follow the first ballerina. This tension between 'on-stage' and 'off-stage' is what fascinated Degas in the conception of the dancing duet: perfecting the subtle play between the two ballerinas took him much detailed preparation, of which the present pastel is an important step.
In this study, Degas focussed mainly on the definition of the postures. As was his custom, he reduced the elements of the composition to the stylised shapes of the dancers' bodies, rendered with the thick richness of the black charcoal, which allowed him a fluid freedom of line. The inclination of the first dancer's back, her hands firmly on her hips, the severe perfection of her right leg and foot; the more relaxed movement of the second dancer; the interplay between the two - these were Degas' concerns in the present work. He does not concentrate on their facial features, nor their 'official' expressions, favouring the portrayal of the 'women' rather than of the 'dancers'. In contrast with the intellectual destination of the work, he lit up the composition with an expressionist stroke of colour: the red hair of the first dancer, casually gathered in a low pony-tail, not yet caught in a strict bun - another significant hint at the informality of the present scene.