This painting may depict a single dancer seen from four different viewpoints. The young woman is placed in an undefined setting, surrounded by mere wisps of color, applied so spontaneously that the paint ran and dripped. Degas even added the circles in the foreground with his thumb. Such audacity, while acceptable in a small sketch, must have shocked the artist's contemporaries when presented on a six-foot canvas. Equally radical is the idea of combining multiple views of a single figure. Degas's unusual presentation may have been inspired by the photographs of Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) Title Frieze of Dancers Creator Edgar Degas (French, 1834¨C1917) Date Created c. 1895 Physical Dimensions Framed 103 x 233.5 x 7 cm (40 9/16 x 91 15/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed 70 x 200.5 cm (27 9/16 x 78 15/16 in.) Provenance (Durand-Ruel, Paris, France, acquired from the artist and sold to Paul Cassier the same day), (Paul Cassirer, Berlin Germany, sold to Max Liebermann), Max Liebermann [1847-1935], Berlin, Germany, deposited to the Kunsthaus Z¨¹rich, Kunsthaus Z¨¹rich, Switzerland, Kathe Riezler, Max Leibermann's daughter, [1885-1952] Berlin, Germany and New York, NY, by inheritance (on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago, October 1941-October 1942)., (Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH Type Painting Rights CC0 Medium oil on fabric Inscriptions Signed in lower right Degas Fun Fact The ballet is a subject Degas returned to again and again over the course of his career. Rather than public performances, he often depicted dancers behind the curtain, practicing, waiting, or, as in this painting, lacing up their shoes. Department Modern European Painting and Sculpture Culture France, 19th century Credit Line Gift of the Hanna Fund Collection Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 Accession Number 1946.83
