A work made of charcoal and pastel with stumping, and touches of brush and black wash, on grayish-tan laid paper with blue fibers, laid down on gray wove paper.

Three Studies of a Dancer in Fourth Position

1879/80

Edgar Degas French, 1834-1917

France

Made in preparation for the sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, this remarkable drawing depicts the model Marie van Goethem from three different perspectives: left profile, right profile, and facing the viewer. Edgar Degas wanted to understand the figure in the round, in two dimensions, before he approached the sculpture in three dimensions.

Charcoal and pastel with stumping, and touches of brush and black wash, on grayish-tan laid paper with blue fibers, laid down on gray wove paper

Prints and Drawings