Dancer, Ready to Dance, Right Foot Forward

Edgar Degas

Around 1919–20

Bronze cast by A.A. Hébrard Foundry, Paris, from a wax model made around 1895

32.6 x 22 x 56.3 cm

Approximately 150 clay and wax sculptures, mostly of dancers and horses, were discovered in Edgar Degas’s studio after his death. His family had a number of these cast in bronze.

Private and experimental works, the originals were often strengthened with ordinary items such as cork or matches. Here, a bit of wire sticks out of the dancer’s right hand.

Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2006

Photo Ⓒ The Courtauld