Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed, about 1872 Edgar Degas, French, 1834-1917 Oil on canvas, 61.3 x 50.5 cm (24 1/8 x 19 7/8 in.) Signed lower left: Degas Bequest of John T. Spaulding 1948, Boston Museum of Fine Arts #48.534

"This somewhat introverted portrayal of a dancer was left unfinished in Dega's studio at the time of his death. The bare preparation layer of her skirt and roughly sketched contours of her arms expose the artist's process--laying in outlines first and then, working in sections, building half tones to model three-dimensional form. The resulting image is both strikingly modern and quite literally reserved: a work in progress." (From the info card)