Edgar Degas

Estate of the artist (and sold: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Atelier Edgar Degas, 2ème vente, December 11-13, 1918, lot 250)
Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York
Mrs. Ralph J. Hines, New York
Thence by descent

Cream wove paper laid down on card. The sheet is gently time stained. The left and right edges are slightly unevenly cut, there are spots of paper losses with associated tears to places in all four edges. There is a vertical crease to the upper and lower right corners, and some minor creases and repaired tears around the signature to the lower left corner. Some studio and handling marks to the sheet. This work is in overall good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Through the privileges of his class Degas had unrestricted access to the backstage of the opera, where he and his friends the Vicomte Lepic, Albert Boulanger-Cavé and Ludovic Halévy consorted with the performers. Degas also sought permission to attend the dance classes at the rue Le Peletier given by Jules Perrot, which enabled him to observe dancers in a variety of emotional and physical states in his most iconic works. Portrayed almost as a frieze of movement, Quatre danseuses is an exceptional example of Degas’ ability to render movement and harmony, emphasizing through the medium of charcoal and pastel the rustle of cloth and the underlying tension of the dancers’ muscles. As Richard Kendall suggests: "As in his other studies of the working women of Paris, from laundresses to prostitutes, Degas was evidently committed to making art for his fellow citizens out of the raw material that nourished their luxury and pleasure. At the Opéra, this necessarily involved what Eunice Lipton has called the 'demystification of the dance,' a matter-of-fact engagement with long hours in class and rehearsal room, where youthful physiques were tuned for their fleeting roles in the footlights" (Richard Kendall in Degas and the Dance (exhibition catalogue), The Detroit Museum of Arts, Detroit, 2003, p. 137).

This remarkable pastel and charcoal is exemplary of Degas’ long obsession with depicting ballet dancers. He rarely focused upon the artifice of rigorously trained poses and the tableaux vivant of the stage but rather emphasized briefly glimpsed moments of relaxation or training. Such works reveal the fragility of the performer and her essential humanity, which captivated the artist and tirelessly featured in numerous of his works. No other artist of his time was able to present this exclusive atmosphere so convincingly or capture the often overlooked beauty of its informality. As the contemporary critic Jules Claretie wrote: "he knows and depicts the backstage world of the theater like no-one else, the dance foyers, the essential appeal of the Opéra rats in their bouffant skirts" (Jules Claretie, 1877, cited in Degas and the Dance (exhibition catalogue), ibid., p. 63).