Ukrainian Dancers Explained

Ukrainian Dancers is a theme series of pastels by Edgar Degas depicting Ukrainian women performing folk dances. Degas created these drawings during the 1890s and early 1900s.

Degas used the name "Les danseuses russes" ("Russian [female] dancers")^[1] and it was known under this name in English and French sources, despite vast ethnographic and art historical evidence for the Ukrainian origin of the women ^[2] There were a number of voices calling for changing the misleading "Russian" name, criticizing it as "deliberate or just lazy misinterpretation" of Ukraine for many years.^[3] These calls intensified with the beginning of Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. The increased focus prompted London's National Gallery to rename a drawing from its collection Ukrainian dancers in April 2022.^[4]

In February 2023 Metropolitan Museum changed the name of one of the pastels to Dancers in the Ukrainian dress after calls from Ukrainian representatives including an art historian and journalist.^{[5] [6]} As of May 2023 in the National Museum of Stockholm another work from the series was changed to Three Dancers in Ukrainian Dress.^[7]

Pastels

There are at least 18 pastels and sketches of Ukrainian dancers created by Degas, mostly in the second half of the 1890s.

Lisa Bixenstine classifies them as 6 finished pastels, 4 unfinished ones, and 8 sketches.

Artwork	Year	Technique	Canvas(cm)	Catalogue	Collection	Reference
	1894	pastel	54 x 34	MS 390	private collection	^[8]
	1895	pastel and charcoal	48 x 67	MS 392	private collection	^[9]
	1895-1899	tracing paper, pastel, charcoal	62 x 67	MS 383	Nationalmuseum (Stockholm, Sweden)	^[10]
	1898	pastel and charcoal	73 x 59	MS 389	private collection	^[11]
	1898	Pastel, charcoal and black chalk on paper mounted on cardboard	67 x 57	MS 394	Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, United States)	^[12]
	1899	tracing paper, pastel, charcoal	62,2 x 62,9	MS 384	Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, United States)	^[13]
	1899	paper, pastel	62,9 x 64,7	MS 385	Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States)	^[14] ^[15]
	1899	tracing paper, pastel, charcoal	61,9 x 45,7	MS 387	Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States)	^[16] ^[17]
	1899	pastel	58,4 x 76,2	MS 391	private collection	^[18]
	1899	Pastel and charcoal on 5 sheets of paper mounted on cardboard	73 x 59,1	MS 393, MS 1845	National Gallery (London, Great Britain)	^[19] ^[20] ^[21]
	1899	tracing paper, pastel, charcoal	59,3 x 38	MS 1533	private collection	^[22]
	1900-1905	paper, pastel, charcoal	98,3 x 75,5	MS 1204	private collection	^[23]
	с. 1899	paper, pastel, charcoal	63 x 60,8		private collection	^[24]
	1900-1905	paper, pastel, charcoal	54 x 71,1		private collection	^[25]

Sources

• PhD . Bixenstine. L. R. . 1987 . Edgar Degas' Russian dancers series (1897-99): their dating, pastel technique, and their context within his late period (1885-1908). The Ohio State University .

Literature

• Richard Kendall and Jill DeVonyar. Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement. Exhibition catalog, Royal Academy of Arts. London, 2011, pp. 19, 227, 229–31, 237
• David Bomford et al. in Art in the Making: Degas. Exhibition catalog, National Gallery. London, 2004

Notes and References

1. Web site: Degas: "Russian Dancers" and the Art of Pastel . . Degas himself (mistakenly) titled a series of works with this name.
2. Web site: Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas Ukrainian Dancers NG6581 National Gallery, London . 2023-02-09 . The National Gallery.
3. Web site: Quinn . Ben . 2022-04-03 . National Gallery renames Degas' Russian Dancers as Ukrainian Dancers . 2022-05-03 . the Guardian . en.
4. Valentina Di Liscia. London's National Gallery Renames Degas's "Russian Dancers" as "Ukrainian Dancers". Hyperallergic, April 5, 2022
5. https://vogue.ua/article/art-amp/muzey-metropoliten-pereymenuvav-rosiyskih-tancivnic-dega-na-ukrajinskih-51292.html Музей Метрополітен перейменував російських танцівниць на українських. Vogue.ua, Feb 8, 2023
6. https://global.espreso.tv/met-renames-degass-russian-dancers-and-recognize-kuindzhi-as-ukrainian-artist Met renames Degas's Russian Dancers and recognize Kuindzhi as Ukrainian artist. global.espreso.tv, 9 February, 2023
7. Óscar Gutiérrez. Moscow loses a cultural battle as Degas’ ‘Russian dancers’ recognized as Ukrainian El Pais, May 31, 2023
8. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-390.html?direct=1 Danseuses russes
9. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-392.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
10. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/trois-danseuses-russes-383.html?direct=1 Three Russian Dancers
11. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-389.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
12. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuse-russe-394.html?direct=1 Russian Dancer
13. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-384.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
14. Web site: Russian Dancers . The Metropolitan Museum of Art . en. 2022-01-24.
15. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-385.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
16. Web site: Russian Dancer . The Metropolitan Museum of Art . en. 2022-01-24.
17. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuse-russe-387.html?direct=1 Russian dancer
18. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-391.html?direct=1 Danseuses russes
19. Web site: Russian Dancers . The National Gallery . en. 2022-01-29.
20. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-393.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
21. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuses-russes-1845.html?direct=1 Russian Dancers
22. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/danseuse-russe-1533.html?direct=1 Danseuse russe
23. http://www.degas-catalogue.com/trois-danseuses-russes-1204.html?direct=1 Three Russian Dancers
24. http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/impressionist-modern-art-evening-sale-l11006/lot.5.html?locale=en Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale/Lot 5
25. https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-edgar-degas-danseuses-russes-4381209/?from=searchresults&intObjectID=4381209&sid=21257e14-a2d7-4140-819f-e0292b642aff Live Auction 1429. Impressionist and Modern Art (Evening Sale)