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Lot Essay
Professor Theodore Reff has stated that in his opinion this drawing is by Edgar Degas.
In the opinion of Professor Reff, 'the format, technique, style and subject of this work belongs to a series of studies of lone dancers drawn around 1885', comparable to twenty two drawings sold in the artist's Atelier sale in 1919. As is the case in the present work, 'each of these drawings is between 31 and 33 cm. high and 23 or 24 centimetres wide; they are drawn in pencil heightened with pastel, and show eveidence of a vigorous and spontaneous application of pencil, rapid touches of pastel, often with traces of pentimenti, and depict a lone dancer at practice. The only difference between these drawings and [the present lot] is that [only the present lot was signed, whilst the others] appear to have remained in the artist's atelier until his death', indicating that this was the only drawing from the series sold during the artist's lifetime (quoted from a letter dated 7 October 2004). It can thus be ascertained that Degas considered Danseuse debout one of the prime, if not the foremost, and fully completed works from this series.
In the opinion of Professor Reff, 'the format, technique, style and subject of this work belongs to a series of studies of lone dancers drawn around 1885', comparable to twenty two drawings sold in the artist's Atelier sale in 1919. As is the case in the present work, 'each of these drawings is between 31 and 33 cm. high and 23 or 24 centimetres wide; they are drawn in pencil heightened with pastel, and show eveidence of a vigorous and spontaneous application of pencil, rapid touches of pastel, often with traces of pentimenti, and depict a lone dancer at practice. The only difference between these drawings and [the present lot] is that [only the present lot was signed, whilst the others] appear to have remained in the artist's atelier until his death', indicating that this was the only drawing from the series sold during the artist's lifetime (quoted from a letter dated 7 October 2004). It can thus be ascertained that Degas considered Danseuse debout one of the prime, if not the foremost, and fully completed works from this series.