Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

Exploring Degas' Drawings and Sculptures

Edgar Degas, The Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen, 1880-1, cast c. 1922 Painted bronze with muslin and silk. Image copyright Tate, London, 2010

Everybody knows Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1880-81), that glorious sculpture of the small dancer, cast in bronze but with a muslin and silk costume. It was a sensation at the time, firstly because of the use of ephemeral materials, and secondly because most dancers of that age were also prostitutes and that was not welcomed by 19th century France. Less well known are the preparatory drawings that he made: Dancer Posing for a Photograph (1875, Pushkin State Museum of Art, Moscow); Dancer on Pointe (c. 1877-78, Private collection); The Dance Lesson (c. 1879, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC); Dancers in a Rehearsal Room with a Double Bass (c. 1882-85, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); and Three Dancers (c. 1903, Beyeler Foundation, Basel).

Putting the drawings and the sculpture together is a wonderful chance to see how Degas worked. An added attraction is the way Degas’ way of working coincided with experiments in photography made at the same time by Jules-Etienne Marey and Eadweard Muybridge, and also in film-making by such pioneers as the Lumière brothers. The aim is to show Degas as an innovator, a modern, radical artist.

There are drawings, pastels, paintings, prints and sculpture in the exhibition, plus photographs. It’s quite an exhibition.

When: September 17- December 11, 2011, Daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays to 10 p.m.

Where: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1

General enquiries: 020 7300 8000

Tickets: Adults £14, children 12 to 18 £4, children 8 to 11 years £3, under 8 years free. 

Buy tickets daily from the RA Ticket Desk; by telephone (booking fees apply) 0845 209 0051 or online at ticketsoyalacademy.org.uk

For more events, see our London What's Going On page