Dancer with a Fan
Pastel on gray-green laid paper · ca. 1880 · 24 x 16 1/2 in. (61 x 41.9 cm)
A young ballet dancer pauses with a fan, caught from an oblique, off-stage angle that feels glimpsed rather than posed. The figure is built from layered strokes of luminous chalk, the artist far more interested in the awkward, in-between moments of rehearsal than in polished performance. The cropping and high viewpoint betray his debt to photography and Japanese prints, turning a fleeting backstage instant into a study of poise and fatigue.