Snowflakes 1923

Zinaida Serebriakova’s work, ‘Snowflakes’ depicts a dressing room full of ballerinas rendered in charcoal, chalk and pastel. Imagine the artist in the wings, sketchbook in hand, watching these dancers prepare. There’s a tension, right? A kind of push-pull between the reality of their backstage preparations and the fantasy they will enact on stage. It’s like two worlds colliding. Notice how the artist has used dry media to capture the softness of the tutus, and the delicate skin of the ballerinas, set against the ruddy earthy tones of the room. You can see Serebriakova’s hand working quickly to capture the fleeting moments before they take to the stage. There are echoes of Degas here, for sure, but it feels like the artist is making her own distinct contribution to a long conversation of artists depicting dancers and performance. It just goes to show how we all borrow from and expand upon one another’s ideas!