Seated Dancer 1883

Edgar Degas made this pastel drawing of a Seated Dancer. Looking closely, the powdery texture of the pastel imbues the scene with a soft, dreamlike quality, very different from a painting using oils. Pastel is an interesting material, because it lies somewhere between drawing and painting. In this case, it is applied in layers of broken color, building up the image through a process of accumulation. Degas often chose dancers as his subjects, offering a glimpse into the world of ballet, with all its hard work and discipline, rather than the glamour that was on display. His choice of pastel as a medium seems particularly apt, it is fragile, powdery, and ethereal, echoing the delicate and fleeting movements of the dancer. So, next time you see a pastel drawing, think about how the choice of materials and making processes contributes to the artwork’s overall meaning. It is about so much more than the image alone.