Entrance of the Masked Dancers

c. 1879

Unlike many of Degas’s ballet scenes, which combine details from sketches made at different times, this pastel relates to a specific production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni . The viewpoint is that of an abonné, a subscriber with privileged access, like the top-hatted gentleman on the far side of the stage. As two weary dancers leave the stage, masked ballerinas take their place. The bold composition and vibrant colors evoke the immediacy of a live performance, though the pastel was almost certainly made in Degas’s studio.

Medium	pastel on gray wove paper
Dimensions	19 5/16 x 25 1/2 in. (49 x 64.8 cm) Frame: 27 13/16 x 34 1/16 x 3 1/4 in. (70.6 x 86.5 x 8.3 cm)
Object Number	1955.559
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Entrance of the Masked Dancers, c. 1879, pastel on gray wove paper. Clark Art Institute, 1955.559

Select Bibliography

Getlein, Mark. Gilbert's Living with Art. 6th ed. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002. Durand-Ruel. A Selection from the Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1905. Galeries Georges Petit: Exposition Degas: au profit de la Ligue franco-anglo-américaine contre le cancer : peintures, pastels et dessins, sculptures, eaux-fortes, lithographies et monotypes. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Galeries Georges Petit, 1924. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Ten: Degas. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1959. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Edgar Degas (1834-1917). Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Fernandez, Rafael, and Alexandra R. Murphy. Degas in the Clark Collection. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1987. Kendall, Richard. Degas and the Little Dancer. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press; Omaha: Joslyn Museum of Art, 1998. Lecomte, Georges. L'Art Impressionniste d'après la collection privée de M. Durand-Ruel. Paris: Typographie Chamerot et Renouard, 1892. Lafond, Paul. Degas. Paris: H. Floury, 1919. Meier-Graefe, Julius. Degas. Translated by J. Holroyd-Reece. London: Ernest Benn, 1923. Lemoisne, Paul-André. "A Propos d'une exposition récente." La Revue de l'Art 46 (JuneDecember 1924). Huyghe, René. "Degas ou la Fiction Réaliste." L'Amour de l'Art 12, no. 7 (July 1931). Mauclair, Camille. Degas. Paris: Editions Hypérion, 1937. Browse, Lillian. Degas Dancers. New York: Faber & Faber, [1949]. Comstock, Helen. "The Connoisseur in America." Connoisseur 138, no. 555 (August 1956): 73-78. Frankfurter, Alfred. "More Treasures Emerge at Williamstown." Art News 55 (Summer 1956). Minervino, Fiorella, and Franco Russoli. L'Opera completa di Degas. Milan: Rizzoli, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Huyghe, René. La Relève du Réel (La Peinture Française au XIXe). Paris: Flammarion, 1974. Dunlop, Ian. Degas. New York: Harper & Row; London: Thames & Hudson, 1979. Brooks, John H. Highlights: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1981. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Gordon, Robert and Andrew Forge. Degas. New York: Abrams, 1988. Milner, Frank. Degas. London: Bison Books, 1990. Lucie-Smith, Edward. Impressionist Women. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; New York: Harmony Books, 1989. Boggs, Jean Sutherland, and Anne Maheux. Degas Pastels. New York: George Braziller: 1992. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Kostenevich, Albert. Hidden Treasures Revealed: Impressionist Masterpieces and Other Important French Paintings Preserved by the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Moscow: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation; St. Petersburg: State Hermitage Museum; New York: in association with H. N. Abrams, 1995. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Sion, Georgia. Degas' Ballet Dancers. London: Ash & Higton/Pavilion, 1992 Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Lemoisne, Paul-André. Degas et son oeuvre. Les Artistes et leurs oeuvres, études et documents. Paris: P. Brame et C. M. de Hauke, 1946. Dumas, Ann. Degas and the Italians in Paris. Exhibition catalogue. Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland, 2003. Scorer, Mischa. Degas and the Dance. New York: Channel Thirteen/WNET Culture and Arts Documentaries, 2004. DVD. Cahill, Timothy. Art in Nature: The Clark Art Institute Today and Tomorrow. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francince Clark Art Institute, 2003. DVD. Christie's. Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. Auction catalogue. New York, January 2008. Cowling, Elizabeth, and Richard Kendall. Picasso Looks at Degas. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; Barcelona: Museu Picasso, 2010. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.

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Provenance

Léon Clapisson, Paris (probably by 1882–91, as Deux danseuses, sold to Durand-Ruel, 19 May 1891); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, from 1891]; Paul Durand-Ruel (by 1901–d. 1922); estate of Paul Durand-Ruel, on deposit at Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York (from 1922, sold to Clark, 28 Apr. 1927, as Entrée des masques);¹ Robert Sterling Clark (1927–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, the painting was placed on deposit with Durand-Ruel, New York, on 30 Aug. 1926, and recorded in the Paris gallery on 28 Mar. 1927. Since it was not owned by the gallery, however, there is no mention in the gallery records of its sale to Clark. See correspondence of 24 Apr. 2001 in the Clark’s curatorial file.