Past Exhibition

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection

Four light-skinned ballerinas with russet-orange hair tied back in buns adjust the straps of their bodices as they gather close together, their bodies and wide, knee-length tutus taking up the left half of this horizontal painting. The background or backdrop beyond them shows a grove of deep green trees to our left and a sunset view of meadows leading back to trees to our right. Three of the dancers stand in a row that extends from the lower left corner to our right and away from us. All three wear rust-orange bodices over tutus that are painted loosely with flecks of pale celery green and buttercup yellow against a muted royal-blue background. Their bodices and upper bodies are outlined with black. The woman closest to us stands with her body angled to our right. Her face turns away as she looks to her left and adjusts that shoulder strap. The two dancers farther from us stand with their backs to us, their bodies angled away from us to our left. The middle dancer looks back over her right shoulder as she lifts the other elbow to adjust that strap. The third dancer in the row holds both hands to her right strap as she looks off into the distance, to our left. The fourth ballerina, to our far left beyond this trio, stands with the arm we can see, her left, lifted with her hand held high as she looks off to our right. Her bodice is a brighter carrot orange, and is more loosely painted. The green foliage behind the dancers extends off the top edge of the painting. The pale sage-green field to the right stretches before puffy, rounded trees daubed with mauve-pink highlights. The coral-pink and golden yellow sky is streaked with lavender-gray clouds. The artist signed his name in red paint with tiny, almost illegible letters in the lower right corner, “Degas.”
Edgar Degas, Four Dancers, c. 1899, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.122

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building, Ground Floor
Four light-skinned ballerinas with russet-orange hair tied back in buns adjust the straps of their bodices as they gather close together, their bodies and wide, knee-length tutus taking up the left half of this horizontal painting. The background or backdrop beyond them shows a grove of deep green trees to our left and a sunset view of meadows leading back to trees to our right. Three of the dancers stand in a row that extends from the lower left corner to our right and away from us. All three wear rust-orange bodices over tutus that are painted loosely with flecks of pale celery green and buttercup yellow against a muted royal-blue background. Their bodices and upper bodies are outlined with black. The woman closest to us stands with her body angled to our right. Her face turns away as she looks to her left and adjusts that shoulder strap. The two dancers farther from us stand with their backs to us, their bodies angled away from us to our left. The middle dancer looks back over her right shoulder as she lifts the other elbow to adjust that strap. The third dancer in the row holds both hands to her right strap as she looks off into the distance, to our left. The fourth ballerina, to our far left beyond this trio, stands with the arm we can see, her left, lifted with her hand held high as she looks off to our right. Her bodice is a brighter carrot orange, and is more loosely painted. The green foliage behind the dancers extends off the top edge of the painting. The pale sage-green field to the right stretches before puffy, rounded trees daubed with mauve-pink highlights. The coral-pink and golden yellow sky is streaked with lavender-gray clouds. The artist signed his name in red paint with tiny, almost illegible letters in the lower right corner, “Degas.”
Edgar Degas, Four Dancers, c. 1899, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.122

Overview: 83 paintings selected from the Chester Dale Collection at the National Gallery of Art were shown in this exhibition, which was on view while West Building main floor French galleries were being renovated. This was the first exhibition in 45 years devoted to works donated by the collector. The exhibition was organized by subject to emphasize areas the Dales focused on in their collecting, including portraits and figure painting, landscapes, and still lifes.

An opening-day lecture, "Three Perspectives on the Chester Dale Collection," was given by Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives, Ann Hoenigswald, senior conservator of paintings, and Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. A book signing of the exhibition catalog followed. From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, a documentary film produced by the National Gallery of Art, ran continuously in the West Building Project Room while the exhibition was on view in the nearby Central Galleries. The music of Chester Dale's friend George Gershwin and other 20th-century American composers was performed at several concerts while the exhibition was on view. The Garden Café became the Garden Café Français, offering a menu of French cuisine.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art. Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator of French paintings, was curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by United Technologies Corporation. The documentary was supported by the HRH Foundation.

Attendance: 977,371

Catalog: The Chester Dale Collection, by Kimberly A. Jones et al. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2009.

Brochure: From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, by Kimberly A. Jones. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2010.

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