Danseuse en Rose by Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas
1834-1917 | French

Danseuse en rose

Stamp signed "Degas" (lower left)
Pastel on canvas

"When you see his pastels…! When you think that he managed to achieve the tone of frescoes with a material so unpleasant to handle!" —Pierre-Auguste Renoir on Degas

Edgar Degas’ dancers require little by way of introduction—no artist better captured the fluid grace and ephemeral beauty of the ballet. This exceptionally rare pastel on canvas, titled Danseuse en rose, is among the most extraordinary the great artist ever painted—a masterpiece of grand scale, radiant beauty and iconic subject.

This extraordinary pastel hails from the height of Degas’ career, circa 1877-80. The opening of the Palais Garnier in 1875 transformed Parisian cultural life and offered the artist easy access to the world of performers. Degas soon became widely acclaimed, hailed as the definitive “painter of dancers.” This pivotal period for Degas also coincided with the meteoric rise of Rosita Mauri, the celebrated prima ballerina who is at the center of this pastel. 

Rosita Mauri was the great star of the Paris Opéra at this time, admired not only for her technical brilliance but for her commanding stage presence, which Degas captured perfectly in Danseuse en rose. It is quite difficult to identify most dancers in Degas’ oeuvre, but Mauri was among the most famous and beloved ballerinas of her day. Similar pastels of Mauri on stage belong to prestigious museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay. 

The monumental beauty of Danseuse en rose is breathtaking at every turn. Degas captured Mauri en pointe, gracefully suspended between stillness and motion—a hallmark of the artist’s genius for rendering fluid motion. Her elaborate costume shimmers in harmony with the colorful stage scenery, creating a spontaneous symphony of energy and vibrancy. Her face is rendered with exceptionally delicate beauty—a rarity among Degas’ dancers, who he often portrayed under harsh, unflattering lights.

This wonderful work of art also has great scale—over three feet high—and is unique for being on canvas. The canvas allowed him to work much larger than his typical paper works and to achieve extraordinarily vivid colors and textures, which are still remarkably luminous almost 150 years later.

This work’s provenance further elevates its importance. Danseuse en rose remained with Degas and his family for almost 100 years, when it then entered one of the most storied private collections of the 20th century—that of the Maharani Sita Devi Gaekwar of Baroda. Known throughout international society for her extraordinary taste and connoisseurship, she was often referred to as the “Indian Wallis Simpson.” The Maharani assembled a remarkable group of Impressionist masterworks, of which this Degas was a clear highlight.

Given its provenance, beauty and rarity, Danseuse en rose is an undeniable masterpiece of Impressionism. Similar, but smaller, examples have gone for large sums at auction. These iconic works, however, hardly ever come to auction, as most of Degas' masterpiece ballerinas already reside in the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Musée d’Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MFA, Boston and many more.

Circa 1877-80

Canvas: 35 3/4” high x 28 1/4” wide (90.81 x 71.76 cm)
Frame: 44 3/4” high x 37 1/2” wide x 2 1/2” deep (113.7 x 95.3 x 6.4 cm)

View the Dossier

Provenance:
Collection of the artist
Sale of the above, Atelier Edgar Degas, Galerie G. Petit, Paris, 2nd sale, December 11-13, 1918, lot 110
Roland Nepveu-Degas (Degas’ nephew), 1918, purchased at the above sale
S.A.R. the Maharani Seethadevi Gaekwar de Baroda
Sale of the above, Palais Galliéra, Paris, November 30, 1961, lot 4
Micheline Maus, Switzerland
Private collection, Geneva, acquired from the above in 2008
Private collection, Germany
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Literature:
Sale catalog, Atelier Edgar Degas, Galerie G. Petit, Paris, 2nd sale, December 11-13, 1918, no. 110, p. 61 (illustrated)
Paul-André Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre, Paris, 1946, vol. II, no. 468, p. 256-57 (illustrated)
Sale catalog, Palais Galliéra, Paris, November 30, 1961, no. 4 (illustrated)
Jacques Lassaigne, Fiorella Minervino, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Degas, Paris, 1988, no. 539, p. 111 (illustrated)

Exhibited:
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Danse et Divertissement, 1948-1949, no. 59 (as Danseuse sur les pointes)