Dancers in the Wings

1879/1880

Edgar Degas

Associated Names
Edgar Degas

Artist, French, 1834 - 1917

Four women are depicted from the waist up against a dark, textured background. Two women face each other while the other two appear to be looking down. The women have distinct facial features and varying hairstyles. They are dressed in off-the-shoulder garments. The background resembles a cave or grotto with two circular lights illuminating the scene. There are no visible jewelry or objects in the women's hands, and the artist's signature is visible in the bottom right corner.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, aquatint, and drypoint on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 13.9 × 10.3 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/16 in.)
    sheet: 30.5 × 21.8 cm (12 × 8 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3365

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Reed/Shapiro 1984, no. 47, State viii/viii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

George M. La Monte [1863-1927], Bound Brook, NJ; (his sale, by the American Art Association, New York, 4 April 1928, no. 91); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979]; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1956

  • Prints by the French Impressionists. From the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, NGA, 1956, no catalogue.

1964

  • Etchings by Edgar Degas, The University of Chicago, 1964, no. 26.

2014

  • Degas/Cassatt, NGA, 2014, no. 17, repro.

2015

  • Degas and the Dance, Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, 2015-2016.

2018

  • Innovative Impressions: Prints by Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro, The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, 2018, no. 45, repro.

2019

  • Degas at the Opera, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019-2020, no. 173, repro.

Bibliography

1906

  • Delteil, Loys. Le peintre-graveur illustre. 31 vols. Paris: Published by the author, 1906-1926. Reprint. New York: Collectors Editions, Da Capo Press, 1969. Vol. 30 (Albert Besnard) is by Louis Godefroy.

1984

  • Reed, Sue Welsh, and Barbara Stern Shapiro. Edgar Degas: The Painter as Printmaker. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1984: no. 47, State viii/viii.

2019

  • Loyrette, Henri, editor. Degas at the Opéra. Exh. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019-2020: 173, no. 173.

Inscriptions

lower right, outside of plate in margin, signed in graphite: Degas

Watermarks

"ARC" watermark in block lettering (most likely partial Arche)

Wikidata ID

Q64955685

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