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Ukrainian Dancers

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Russian dancers is a theme series of pastels by Edgar Degas depicting Ukrainian women performing folk dances. Degas created these drawings during the 1890s and early 1900s, and was probably motivated by Ukrainian dancers performing in Paris at the time.

Since the dancing women came from the Russian Empire, Degas used the name "Les danseuses russes" ("Russian [female] dancers")[1] and it was known under this name in English and French sources, despite vast ethnographic and art historical evidence for the Ukrainian origin of the women.[2][3][4]

There were a number of voices calling for changing the misleading "Russian" name, criticizing it as "deliberate or just lazy misinterpretation" of Ukraine for many years.[2] These calls intensified with the beginning of Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. The increased focus prompted London's National Gallery to rename a drawing from its collection Ukrainian dancers in April 2022.[5][2][3]

In February 2023 Metropolitan Museum changed the name of one of the pastels to Dancers in the Ukrainian dress after calls from Ukrainian representatives including an art historian and journalist.[6][7]

Pastels

There are at least 18 pastels and sketches of Ukrainian dancers created by Degas, mostly in the second half of the 1890s.

Lisa Bixenstine classifies them as 6 finished pastels, 4 unfinished ones, and 8 sketches.[8]

Artwork Year Technique Canvas(cm) Catalogue Collection Reference
1894 pastel 54 x 34 MS 390 private collection [9]
1895 pastel and charcoal 48 x 67 MS 392 private collection [10]
1895-1899 tracing paper, pastel, charcoal 62 x 67 MS 383 Nationalmuseum (Stockholm, Sweden) [11]
1898 pastel and charcoal 73 x 59 MS 389 private collection [12]
1898 Pastel, charcoal and black chalk on paper mounted on cardboard 67 x 57 MS 394 Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, United States) [13]
1899 tracing paper, pastel, charcoal 62,2 x 62,9 MS 384 Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, United States) [14]
1899 paper, pastel 62,9 x 64,7 MS 385 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States) [15][16]
1899 tracing paper, pastel, charcoal 61,9 x 45,7 MS 387 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States) [17][18]
1899 pastel 58,4 x 76,2 MS 391 private collection [19]
1899 Pastel and charcoal on 5 sheets of paper mounted on cardboard 73 x 59,1 MS 393, MS 1845 National Gallery (London, Great Britain) [20][21][22]
1899 tracing paper, pastel, charcoal 59,3 x 38 MS 1533 private collection [23]
1900-1905 paper, pastel, charcoal 98,3 x 75,5 MS 1204 private collection [24]
paper, charcoal Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States)
с. 1899 paper, pastel, charcoal 63 x 60,8 private collection [25]
1900-1905 paper, pastel, charcoal 54 x 71,1 private collection [26]

References

  1. ^ "Degas: "Russian Dancers" and the Art of Pastel". J. Paul Getty Museum. Degas himself (mistakenly) titled a series of works with this name
  2. ^ a b c Quinn, Ben (2022-04-03). "National Gallery renames Degas' Russian Dancers as Ukrainian Dancers". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  3. ^ a b "Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas | Ukrainian Dancers | NG6581 | National Gallery, London". The National Gallery. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  4. ^ Bixenstine 1987, p. 102–160.
  5. ^ Valentina Di Liscia. London's National Gallery Renames Degas's "Russian Dancers" as "Ukrainian Dancers". Hyperallergic, April 5, 2022
  6. ^ Музей Метрополітен перейменував російських танцівниць на українських. Vogue.ua, Feb 8, 2023
  7. ^ Met renames Degas's Russian Dancers and recognize Kuindzhi as Ukrainian artist. global.espreso.tv, 9 February, 2023
  8. ^ Bixenstine 1987, p. 59.
  9. ^ Danseuses russes. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  10. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  11. ^ Three Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  12. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  13. ^ Russian Dancer. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  14. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  15. ^ "Russian Dancers". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  16. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  17. ^ "Russian Dancer". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  18. ^ Russian dancer. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  19. ^ Danseuses russes. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  20. ^ "Russian Dancers". The National Gallery. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  21. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  22. ^ Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  23. ^ Danseuse russe. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  24. ^ Three Russian Dancers. The online critical catalogue of paintings and pastels by Edgar Degas by Michel Schulman.
  25. ^ Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale/Lot 5. Sotheby's
  26. ^ Live Auction 1429. Impressionist and Modern Art (Evening Sale). Christie's

Sources

Literature

  • Richard Kendall and Jill DeVonyar. Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement. Exhibition catalog, Royal Academy of Arts. London, 2011, pp. 19, 227, 229–31, 237
  • David Bomford et al. in Art in the Making: Degas. Exhibition catalog, National Gallery. London, 2004
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