Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"

Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"

Edgar Degas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Degas sensitively conveyed the union of a musician with his instrument in this work. It represents an intermediary stage in the development of the violinist featured in "The Dance Lesson" (1971.185). Based on a more preliminary sketch, Degas worked up the composition in pastel and squared it for transfer. Curiously, he executed it on the back of a bookseller's advertisement; however, the green tone of the paper perfectly suited the use of pastel.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"Violinist, Study for "The Dance Lesson"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.