Spanish Dancers and Musicians

1868/1869

Edgar Degas

Associated Names
Edgar Degas

Artist, French, 1834 - 1917

This is a painting of a scene with people engaged in dance and social interaction. The painting is in the shape of an arc, making it look like an open fan. In the center, people are captured in various expressive poses; some appear to be dancing with their arms extended, while others are seated or standing, observing the scene. One man appears to play a guitar. The people have pale skin and wear a variety of clothing; the women wear dresses embellished with ruffles and shawls, while the men wear vests, shirts, and trousers. The clothes are mostly in muted tones of brown and gray, with some pops of yellow and pink. The background is an expansive landscape of rolling hills, and the ground beneath the people is flat, tan earth.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor and pen and black ink on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Woodner Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (arched): 51.4 x 26 cm (20 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.25.3

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lemoisne 1946, no. 173

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Berthe Morisot [1841-1895], Paris, gift from the artist, c. 1869; by descent to Mme. Ernest Rouart [1878-1966], née Julie Manet (Morisot's daughter); Clément Rouart, Paris; (Galerie Hopkins-Thomas, Paris); Ian Woodner Family Collection (sale, New York, Christie's, 5 November 1991, no. 19; unsold); gift to NGA, 2000.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1937

  • Degas, Musée d'Orangerie, Paris, 1937, no. 185.

1952

  • Chefs d'oeuvre des collections parisiennes, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, 1952 - 1953, no. 122.

1955

  • Degas dans les collections françaises, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1955, no. 31, repro.

1984

  • Kompositionen im Halbrund: facherblatter aus vier Jahrhunderten, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Museum Bellerive, Zurich, 1984, no. 63, repro.

1988

  • Degas, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo; Mie Prefecture Museum, Tsu; Daimaru Museum of Art, Osaka; Museum of Art, Okayama; and Nichido Museum of Art, Kasama, 1988 - 1989, no. 19.

1990

  • Woodner Collection Master Drawings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, no. 116, repro.

2002

  • Degas and the Dance, Detroit Institute of Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2002-2003, plate 46, repro.

2006

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2006 - 2007.

2009

  • Degas and Music, Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY, 2009.

2017

  • The Woodner Collections: Master Drawings from Seven Centuries, NGA, 2017.

2019

  • Degas at the Opera, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019-2020, no. 257, repro.

Bibliography

1946

  • Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son oeuvre. 4 vols. Paris: Arts et metiers graphiques, 1946-1949. Vols. 2 and 3, 1946. Reprinted in 5 vols., New York and London, 1984.

1953

  • Cooper, Douglas. Pastels by Degas. New York, 1953: 21.

1970

  • Reff, Theodore. "Degas and the Literature of His Time." The Burlington Magazine 112 (1970): 579-580.

  • Minervino, Fiorella, and Franco Russoli. L'opera completa di Degas. Milan, 1970: no. 281.

1974

  • Lassaigne, Jacques, and Fiorella Minervino. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Degas. Paris, 1974: no. 281.

1976

  • Reff, Theodore. Degas: The Artist's Mind. New York and London, 1976: 156-157.

1978

  • Gerstein, Marc Saul. "Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Fans." Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1978: no. 2.

1981

  • Kopplin, Monika. Das Facherblatt von Manet bis Kokoschka, Europeische Traditionene und Japanische Einflusse. Cologne, 1981: 64-68.

1982

  • Gerstein, Marc. "Degas Fans." Art Bulletin 64 (1982): 105-106.

2002

  • DeVonyar, Jill, and Richard Kendall. Degas and the Dance. New York, 2002: 47-48.

2019

  • Loyrette, Henri, editor.Degas at the Opéra. Exh. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019-2020: 245, no. 257

Wikidata ID

Q64556395

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