Arabesque Devant 1850 - 1920

Editor: This is "Arabesque Devant", a bronze sculpture by Edgar Degas, thought to be made sometime between 1850 and 1920. It’s currently on display at the Met. I'm struck by the sense of suspended motion – like she’s a still frame from a dance. How would you interpret this work? Curator: Well, aren’t we lucky to stand before her frozen ballet? I find Degas so fascinating because he straddled that line between Impressionism and something much more structured. It’s all about capturing a fleeting moment, but then grounding it in this very solid form, in the bronze. See how rough the surface is? It’s not idealized like so much sculpture before it. It's… raw. What do you make of that roughness? Editor: It feels like you can see the process, the artist's hand, almost as if the sculpture is still being formed. Is it supposed to represent a specific dancer? Curator: Perhaps! It’s more about the *idea* of dance, I think, rather than a portrait of a particular prima ballerina. Think about what dance meant at that time – this explosion of movement, challenging conventions, almost defying gravity, and societal expectations… Degas wasn’t just sculpting a body; he was sculpting an era, capturing the very *spirit* of movement. I once saw Baryshnikov strike this exact pose – a photo really - pure serendipity. What did it evoke to you? Editor: Freedom, I think. Despite being static, there’s such a strong feeling of liberation and grace, like the dancer could take flight any second. It is frozen dance but a lasting impact. Curator: Precisely! Degas teaches us that even stillness can contain multitudes and perhaps something eternal.