La danseuse 

Curator: Boldini's "La Danseuse," executed in watercolor and drawing, presents a figure captured mid-motion. The rapid, almost fleeting brushstrokes give a wonderful sense of dynamism. What are your first thoughts? Editor: The colours. Predominantly browns and blues… and immediately I'm thinking about visibility, gender and performance. It seems like she's emerging out of this ground of neutral colours. It really directs the eye and hints at the often hidden labor of performance. Curator: Precisely! It's intriguing to consider the techniques Boldini employs. We see how the use of watercolour in this drawing adds to its unfinished, preliminary quality – almost like a study for a larger, potentially more polished piece. Do you find that it influences our perception of her role or actions? Editor: Absolutely. The medium speaks to the accessibility of dance at that moment. Was this meant to democratise or commercialise? Perhaps, as an impressionistic work, it attempts to break free of ballet’s rigid social structure through the relatively affordable medium of watercolor? It’s a very bodily rendering that gestures towards gender and class constructs that defined dancers as workers at that moment in history. Curator: Indeed. Considering this historical framework, it’s interesting to remember the burgeoning popular culture of the time – the Moulin Rouge, the cabaret – these spaces of performance become entwined with ideas of working class entertainment, gender, sexuality, and commerce. Boldini does well in creating something with a gesture towards all these concepts. Editor: Definitely! And even considering the material cost! Think about the labour and materials involved; how did Boldini navigate a system rife with challenges to enter an artistic economy? How did he learn and hone his technique? How might access to certain resources given him this position of visibility while others may not have been able to? It speaks to so much regarding access and who got to depict what, in addition to questions about his intentions in depiction. Curator: A compelling point, how materials speak to opportunity. For me, "La Danseuse" provides such rich avenues into both technique and also the historical and cultural understanding of this era, which adds to our understanding and interpretation. Editor: I agree, and perhaps to add…It is this piece's ability to bring questions surrounding production, access and visibility into perspective, urging me to want to uncover and demystify the narratives constructed, through media such as watercolors, at that historical juncture.