Dancer Holding Her Right Foot in Her Right Hand 1895 - 1920

Edgar Degas made this bronze sculpture, Dancer Holding Her Right Foot in Her Right Hand, and what strikes me is the dancer’s incredible balance! Imagine Degas in his studio, wrestling with the wax, pushing and pulling it, trying to capture the weight and dynamism of the human form. You can see the marks of his hands, the way he’s modeled the clay to suggest muscle and sinew, the way he has found the essence of movement in a static form. Look how the dancer is holding her foot, the angle of her arm reaching out for balance. It is such a casual gesture, yet also requires an incredible awareness and control. Degas was fascinated by dancers, and he made many paintings and sculptures of them, always trying to capture their grace and athleticism. Think about the conversations he might have had with other artists like Manet or Cassatt, all of them pushing the boundaries of what art could be. Ultimately, art is this ongoing dialogue, where one person's work becomes the inspiration for another.