Three Studies of a Dancer in Fourth Position
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas
1879–1880
- Medium
- Charcoal and pastel with stumping, and touches of brush and black wash, on grayish-tan laid paper with blue fibers, laid down on gray wove paper
- Dimensions
- 48 × 61.6 cm (18 15/16 × 24 5/16 in.)
- Genre
- pastel
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
drawings (visual works)washblack washprints and drawingpastelpastels (crayons)papercrayonsstumpingdrawing techniquespaper (fiber product)wove papercharcoal
About
Made in preparation for the sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, this remarkable drawing depicts the model Marie van Goethem from three different perspectives: left profile, right profile, and facing the viewer. Edgar Degas wanted to understand the figure in the round, in two dimensions, before he approached the sculpture in three dimensions.
