Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture

Edgar Degas french , 1834 – 1917

Scene at the Ballet ( Scène de ballet )

1879 Brush and ink on paper 11 5 / 8 x 21 1 ⁄

8 inches ( 29 . 5 x 53 . 6 cm) Titled, signed, dated, and annotated lower left

provenance Madame Henry Grèville ( 1842 – 1902 ), Paris, dedicated to her by Degas Etienne Bignou, Paris (art dealer in Paris) Collection Walter, Edition Quatre Chemins, Paris, until 1950 Suzanne Edzard-Eisendieck ( 1906 – 1998 ), Paris Private collection, Germany Sale, Villa Grisebach, June 6 , 2001 Neffe-Degandt Fine Art, London, acquired from above Private collection. exhibitions Museum Der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, Von Corot Bis Monet: Werke Der Schule Von Barbizon Und Ihrer Nachfolge Aus Der Sammlung Marion Und Hans-Peter Bühler , November 11 , 1995 –July 1 , 1996 , cat no. 10 . Certificate of authenticity by Theodore Reff dated February 4 , 1990 . Certificate of authenticity by Etienne Bignou dated June 15 , 1950 . Degas’s fans, begun approximately 10 years after he first turned to ballet as his primary subject matter, show us the breathtaking dexterity and skillful draftsmanship of which he was capable. Virtually no drawn studies for either the figures or the settings in these fans exist, the subjects of which were taken from more detailed earlier compositions