Edgar Degas
A sales catalog of 1898 evocatively described the performer pictured in this pastel: "Skinny and with the graceful moves of a little monkey, she has just sung her ribald verses and, with a gesture that conceals an entreaty behind her smile, is inviting applause." With her small eyes, high cheeks, and low brow, the model recalls Marie van Goethem, the working-class girl who posed for Degas’s sculpture The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer. The singer’s dress, rendered in vivid yellow, turquoise, and orange, reflects the artist’s experimentation with saturated hues and color contrasts in the mid-1880s.
As you may know, Degas was obsessed with dancers, singers, and opera and theater in general. If you would like to know more about his story, please check out our Mega French Impressionism Course!
Discover the most beautiful ballerinas, which made Edgar Degas so famous!
P.S. You can discover lesser-known masterpieces by Degas in our articles below!