Edgar Degas

Ambroise Vollard, Paris

Galerie Malingue, Paris

Private Collection, Paris

Sale: Christie's, New York, May 15, 1985, lot 18

Private Collection 

Acquired in 2001 by the present owner

P.A. Lemoisne, Degas et son oeuvre, vol. 3, Paris, 1946, no. 1209, illustrated p. 703

Franco Russoli & Fiorella Minervino, L'Opera completa di Degas, Milan, 1970, no. 1107, illustrated p. 136

Good condition. The work is executed on five pieces of joined paper. The composition shows a vertical and horizontal folding crease. The paper is mounted at the edges to a paper pulp board and counter mounted on the verso. There are two repaired tears on the lower left and right edge and a minor paper loss on the left and right corners. The colors are fresh and no discoloration can be seen and pastel is rich and undisturbed. Overall in 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.

Painted circa 1895, Trois danseuses depicts ballet dancers in the midst of their performance on the stage.  Degas's lifelong interest in dance developed in the 1860s, when as a young man he regularly attended the ballet and other performances such as opera, café-concerts and the circus.  He was attracted to the spectacle and excitement of live entertainment and found in it an endless source of inspiration, sketching the performers from nature. In this manner he was able to study both the natural unguarded gestures of dancers at rest and the stylized movements of classical ballet.  Degas was fascinated not only by the public spectacle of ballet performances, but also by the more informal situations around them: the behind-the-scenes world of the rehearsal room or the dance class, the dancers' preparation for and tension before a performance, and the more relaxed, casual moments that followed afterwards.

Throughout Degas' career, his treatment of this subject underwent a radical metamorphosis. In the later decades, the artist's visits to the ballet became less frequent and he began working increasingly from models in his studio in the rue Victor Massé.  Whereas visits to the ballet had only afforded Degas fleeting demonstrations of the dancers' choreographed movements, the privacy of the studio presented him with the opportunity to pose a model in his preferred way.  Dating from the mid-1890s, the present work exemplifies the aesthetic of his late pastels, with its the freer, more spontaneous strokes that emphasized vibrant color effects and movement of the figures in action.