# Three Studies of a Dancer in Fourth Position

- By: Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
- Date: 1879/80
- Medium: Charcoal and pastel with stumping, and touches of brush and black wash, on grayish-tan laid paper with blue fibers, laid down on gray wove paper
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 48 × 61.6 cm (18 15/16 × 24 5/16 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Bequest of Adele R. Levy
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/14970)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/041d1ff9-e64a-eeed-8e58-16095f04df0c/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Made in preparation for the sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, this remarkable drawing depicts the model Marie van Goethem from three different perspectives: left profile, right profile, and facing the viewer. Edgar Degas wanted to understand the figure in the round, in two dimensions, before he approached the sculpture in three dimensions.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0