Dancer Making Points
Framed: 29 × 24 1/2 × 3 1/2 inches (73.66 × 62.23 × 8.89 cm)
Exhibition of Paintings by the Master Impressionists , Durand-Ruel, New York, April 8-20, 1929, no. 4, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection , The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9-September 9, 2007, no. 14, as Dancer Making Points (Danseuse faisant des pointes).
Painters and Paper: Bloch Works on Paper , The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 20, 2017-March 11, 2018, no cat.
Illuminated by gas footlights in the midst of a performance, a dancer “makes points,” or draws forms with her pointed foot. Edgar Degas’s daring, asymmetrical composition and the angled perspective he produced by the diagonal lines of the floorboards emphasize the sensation of plunging space.
Degas is best known as a painter of ballet dancers, whether rehearsing in a studio or dancing on stage. He was captivated by their sometimes graceful, sometimes awkward positions, which he captured in a variety of media over the course of his career.
Georges Urion (1865-1954), Paris, by May 31, 1927;
Purchased at his sale, Tableaux Modernes par Altmann, Barye, Boggs, Bouche, Boudin, Braquaval, Carrière, Cézanne, Chéret, Corot, Cross, Dufeu, Dufy, Flandrin, Forain, Gauguin, Van Gogh, de Groux, Guillaumin, Hervier, Isabey, Jongkind, Lebourg, Lemordant, Lépine, Luce, Marquet, Monticelli, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Renoir, K.-X. Roussel, Sisley, Tassaert, Ten Cate, Utrillo, Vignon, Vuillard, Willette, etc., Pastel par Degas, Sculptures par Carpeaux et Rodin, Commode d'époque Régence, Tapisseries Anciennes d’Aubusson, Bruxelles, Felletin, Flandres et Florence, Composant la Collection de Monsieur G. U… , Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 30-31, 1927, lot 26, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes, by Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, deposit no. LD 13176, for the account of Durand-Ruel, New York, stock no. 5019, as Danseuse faisant des pointes, May 31, 1927-November 11, 1929 [1];
Purchased from Durand-Ruel, New York, by Anna Eugenia Clark (née La Chapelle, 1878-1963), New York and Santa Barbara, CA, November 11, 1929-October 11, 1963 [2];
Inherited by her daughter, Huguette Marcelle Clark (1906-2011), New York, 1963-prior to November 1992 [3];
Placed on sale at Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, ca. 1992-1993;
Purchased from Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, by Marion (née Helzberg, 1931-2013) and Henry (1922-2019) Bloch, Shawnee Mission, KS, 1993-October 27, 2008 [4];
Returned by the Blochs to Huguette Clark, October 27, 2008 [5];
Simultaneously, Huguette Clark gifted to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 27, 2008.
NOTES:
[1] The painting was transferred from Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, New York, in August 1927. See emails from Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel & Cie., Paris, to Nicole Myers, NAMA, January 11, 2016, and to Meghan Gray, NAMA, February 5 and 9, 2016, NAMA curatorial file. The catalogue raisonné erroneously cites Georges Lurcy (or Lévy, 1891-1953), as an owner of the pastel, but Durand-Ruel have no indication of a sale to him or to any other person before November 11, 1929 when it was sold to Mrs. W. A. Clark. See Paul A. Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre, vol. 2 (Paris: Paul Brame et C.M. De Hauke, 1946), no. 558.
[2] See emails from Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel & Cie., Paris, to Nicole Myers, NAMA, January 11, 2016, and to Meghan Gray, NAMA, February 5 and 9, 2016, NAMA curatorial file. Contrary to Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr., Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune (New York: Ballantine Books, 2013), 128, Durand-Ruel does not record Clark’s 23-year-old daughter, Huguette Clark, as a co-purchaser of the pastel. Labels on the verso of the pastel indicate that Mrs. Clark sent the picture to dealer M. Knoedler and Co., New York, on several occasions, who always returned it. Label No. 18809 indicates that Knoedler received the work from Mrs. Clark as early as May 20, 1929 and returned to her the following day.
[3] See email from Bill Dedman to Kathleen Leighton, NAMA, May 22, 2012, NAMA curatorial file. The painting went missing from Huguette Clark’s apartment prior to November 1992. Neither she nor her representatives reported it missing at that time.
[4] See letter from Susan L. Brody to Henry Bloch, November 7, 1994, NAMA curatorial files.
[5] After the pastel was discovered missing from Clark’s apartment in November 1992, a subsequent FBI investigation into its loss was inconclusive. In 2008, Marion and Henry Bloch, who had acquired the pastel in good faith, entered into discussions with Clark’s representatives in an effort to amicably resolve the pastel’s ownership. As a result of these discussions, Clark agreed to gift the pastel to NAMA in October 2008, and she received recognition from NAMA for the gift. Upon acceptance of Clark’s gift, NAMA loaned the pastel to the Blochs so the work could rejoin their collection of promised gifts to the museum. It remained with them until their collection was accessioned on June 15, 2015.
Catalogue de Tableaux Modernes par…, Pastel par Degas, Sculptures par Carpeaux et Rodin, Commode d'époque Régence, Tapisseries Anciennes d’Aubusson, Bruxelles, Felletin, Flandres et Florence, Composant la Collection de Monsieur G. U… (Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, May 30-31, 1927), 11, (repro.), as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Hérbert, “Notes d’un Curieux,” Le Gaulois 60, no. 18135 (May 21, 1927): 4, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Jacques Reylaine, “Vente prochaine,” Figaro 102, no. 144 (May 24, 1927): 4, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
“L’Art et la Curiosité,” Le Figaro, no. 151 (May 31, 1927): 4, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Le Vieux Collectionneur, “Les Ventes,” La Revue de L’Art 52, no. 279 (June 1927): 244, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
“À la Galerie Georges Petit,” Le Petit Journal 8 (June 1, 1927): 4, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
“Art et Curiosité,” Le Journal, no. 12645 (June 1, 1927): 2, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
La Furetière, “La Curiosité,” Excelsior 18. No. 6,015 (June 1, 1927): 2, as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Le Rapin, “Beaux-Arts,” Comɶdia 21, no. 5264 (June 1, 1927): 2, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
H. R., “La Curiosité,” Comɶdia 21, no. 5265 (June 2, 1927): 3, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Paul Gille, “La Curiosité,” L’Action Française 20, no. 154 (June 3, 1927): 4, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Curiosa, “Revue des Ventes de Mai et Juin,” Le Gaulois artistique no. 11 (July 9, 1927): 191-92, (repro.), as La Danseuse faisant des pointes
Exhibition of Paintings by the Maser Impressionists , exh. cat. (New York: Durand-Ruel, 1929), unpaginated, (repro.), as Danseuse faisant des pointes.
“Impressionists Shown at Durand-Ruels,” Art News 27, no. 28 (April 13, 1929): 1, 3, (repro.), as Danseuse Faisant des Pointes.
André Fage, Le Collectionneur de Peintures Modernes (Paris: Éditions Pittoresques, 1930), 61, 154, 209, as La Danseuse faisant des pointes.
Camille Mauclair, Degas (London: William Heinemann, 1941), 141, (repro.), as Dancing Girl, Pirouetting.
Paul A. Lemoisne, Degas et son œuvre, vol. 2 (Paris: Paul Brame et C. M. De Hauke, 1946), no. 558, pp. 312-13, (repro.), as Danseuses faisant des pointes.
Lillian Browse, Degas Dancers (Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop, 1949), 384, (repro.) as Le Commencement des ‘Pirouettes sur la Pointe en Dedans’.
Ronald Pickvance, “Degas's Dancers: 1872-6,” Burlington Magazine 105, no. 723 (1963): 264, as Danseuse faisant des Pointes.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino, L’opera completa di Degas (Milan: Rizzoli Editore, 1970), no. 737, pp. 120, (repro.), as Ballerina su una Punta.
Howard G Lay, “Degas at Durand-Ruel, 1892: The Landscape Monotypes,” Print Collector’s Newsletter 9, no. 5 (1978): 147n21.
“Inaugural Exhibitions Celebrate Kansas City,” Member Magazine (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Fall 2006): 3.
“Lasting Impressions: A Tribute to Marion and Henry Bloch,” Member Magazine (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Fall 2007): 11, (repro.).
Steve Paul, “Pretty Pictures: Marion and Henry Bloch’s Collection of Superb Impressionist Masters,” Panache 4, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 20, 24, (repro.), as Dancer Making Points.
Alice Thorson, “A final countdown: A rare showing of impressionist paintings from the private collection of Henry and Marion Bloch is one of the inaugural exhibition the 165,000 square-foot glass-and-steel structure,” Kansas City Star (June 29, 2006): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/112A442167B09948?p=WORLDNEWS .
Alice Thorson, “First Public Exhibition: Marion and Henry Bloch’s Art Collection,” Kansas City Star (June 3, 2007): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/1198B96860A04798?p=WORLDNEWS , as Dancer Making Points.
Alice Thorson, “A Tiny Renoir Began Impressive Obsession,”Kansas City Star (June 3, 2007): E4, E5, Dancer Making Points.
Alice Thorson, “Marion and Henry Bloch’s Art Collection: A tiny Renoir began impressive obsession Bloch collection gets its first public exhibition - After one misstep, Blochs focused, successfully, on French paintings,” Kansas City Star (June 10, 2007):
http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/1198B96860A04798?p=WORLDNEWS .
Richard R. Brettell and Joachim Pissarro, Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection , exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007), 11, 15, 82-85, 158, (repro.), as Dancer Making Points (Danseuse faisant des pointes).
Alice Thorson, “Museum to get 29 impressionist works from Bloch collection,” Kansas City Star (February 5, 2010): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/12DAFE94152200F0?p=WORLDNEWS .
Alice Thorson, “Henry and Marion Bloch donate impressionist collection to the Nelson,” Kansas City Star (February 7, 2010): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/12DBA75220AC5588?p=WORLDNEWS .
Bill Dedman, “The $10 million Degas ballerina, heiress Huguette Clark and the tax man,” msnbc.com (March 15, 2012): http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/15/10693680-the-10-million-degas-ballerina-heiress-huguette-clark-and-the-tax-man , as Dancer Making Points or Danseuse Faisant des Pointes .
David Frese, “A collection of stories: How Henry Bloch acquired the paintings in the Nelson Gallery,” Kanas City Star (March 5, 2017), https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/visual-arts/article136036913.html.
Alice Thorson, “Painting’s story touches Blochs, FBI and the Nelson,” Kansas City Star (March 15, 2012): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/13D8C3D2F1061C20?p=WORLDNEWS , as Dancer Making Points (Danseuse faisant des pointes).
Alice Thorson, “Story of ‘Dancer’ Revealed: Artwork’s Story Touches Blochs, FBI, Nelson,” Kansas City Star 132, no. 181 (March 16, 2012): A1, A4, A5, (repro.), as Dancer Making Points (Danseuse faisant des pointes).
Alice Thorson, “Lawsuits aren’t the only answer when an artwork’s origin is questionable,” Kansas City Star (May 11, 2012): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/13EB5870459F83A0?p=WORLDNEWS , as Dancer Making Points.
Alice Thorson, “Lawsuits aren’t the only answer,” Kansas City Star (May 13, 2012): 58, as Dancer Making Points.
Alice Thorson, “Kansas City Art in 2012: Sights to Remember,” Kansas City Star (December 26, 2012): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/1436CB47C19AC828?p=WORLDNEWS .
Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr., Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune (New York: Ballantine Books, 2013), 128, 218-19, 291-93, 353, 356, 410n291, 434, (repro.), as Dancer Making Points.
“World-Class Bloch Art Collection Will Be on Permanent View in Renovated Galleries at the Nelson-Atkins,” Artdaily.org (April 9, 2015):
Diane Stafford, “Bloch gift to go for Nelson upgrade,” Kansas City Star, 135, no. 203 (April 8, 2015): A1, A8.
advertisement, Town and Country (June 2015).
“Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art officially accessions Bloch Impressionist masterpieces,” Artdaily.org (July 25, 2015): https://artdaily.cc/news/80246/Nelson-Atkins-Museum-of-Art-officially-accessions-Bloch-Impressionist-masterpieces#.XjnhJyN7laQ, as Dancer Making Points.
Julie Paulais, “Le Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art reçoit des tableaux impressionnistes en échange de leurs répliques,” Le Journal des arts (July 30, 2015): https://www.lejournaldesarts.fr/patrimoine/le-nelson-atkins-museum-art-recoit-des-tableaux-impressionnistes-en-echange-de-leurs.
Nancy Staab, “Van Gogh is a Go!” 435: Kansas City’s Magazine (September 2015): 76, as Dancer Making Points.
Meryl Gordon, Phantom of Fifth Avenue, the: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2015), 238, 300-01.
“Nelson-Atkins to unveil renovated Bloch Galleries of European Art in winter 2017,” Artdaily.org (July 20, 2016): https://artdaily.cc/news/88852/Nelson-Atkins-to-unveil-renovated-Bloch-Galleries-of-European-Art-in-winter-2017-#.XjniOiN7laQ.
advertisement, Art in America’s Annual Guide 104, no. 7 (August 2016): (repro.), 127, (repro.), Dancer Making Points.
“Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art celebrates generosity of Henry Bloch with new acquisition,” Artdaily.org (October 18, 2016): https://artdaily.cc/news/90923/Nelson-Atkins-Museum-of-Art-celebrates-generosity-of-Henry-Bloch-with-new-acquisition#.XjniUiN7laQ.
“70 events in arts and culture,” Kansas City Star (December 29, 2016): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/16195AD6DB90E668?p=WORLDNEWS .
Catherine Futter et al., Bloch Galleries: Highlights from the Collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2016), 95, (repro.).
advertisement, KCPT Member Guide (February 2017).
advertisement, Architectural Digest (March 2017).
advertisement, CN Traveler (March 2017).
advertisement, New Yorker (March 2017).
advertisement, Vanity Fair (March 2017).
advertisement, Dos Mundos, (March 3, 2017).
Albert Hect, “Henry Bloch’s Masterpieces Collection to Go on Display at Nelson-Atkins Museum,” Jewish Business News (February 26, 2017):
http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2017/02/26/henry-bloch-masterpieces-collection/ .
“Presenting the Bloch Galleries,” Kansas City Star 137, no. 165 (March 1, 2017): 27KC, as Dancer Making Points.
“The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: Presenting the Bloch Galleries,” New York Times (March 5, 2017).
David Frese, “Inside the Bloch Galleries: An interactive experience,” Kansas City Star 137, no. 169 (March 5, 2017): 1D, 4D, 6D, (repro.), as Dancer Making Points.
“A collection of stories: How Henry Bloch acquired the paintings in new Nelson galleries,” Kansas City Star (March 5, 2017): http://iw.newsbank.com.proxy.mcpl.lib.mo.us/resources/doc/nb/news/162F110C47001D40?p=WORLDNEWS .
“Editorial: Thank you, Henry and Marion Bloch,” Kansas City Star (March 7, 2017): http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article137040948.html .
Hampton Stevens, “(Not Actually) 12 Things To Do During The Big 12 Tournament,” Flatland: KCPT’s Digital Magazine (March 9, 2017): http://www.flatlandkc.org/arts-culture/sports/not-actually-12-big-12-tournament/ .
Laura Spencer, “The Nelson-Atkins’ Bloch Galleries feature Old Masterworks and New Technology,” KCUR (March 10, 2017): http://kcur.org/post/nelson-atkins-bloch-galleries-feature-old-masterworks-and-new-technology#stream/0 .
Victoria Stapley-Brown, “Nelson-Atkins Museum’s new European art galleries come with a ‘love story’,” Art Newspaper (March 10, 2017): http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/nelson-atkins-museum-s-new-european-art-galleries-come-with-a-love-story/ .
Harry Bellet, “Don du ciel pour le Musée Nelson-Atkins,” Le Monde (March 13, 2017): http://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2017/03/13/don-du-ciel-pour-le-musee-nelson-atkins_5093543_1655012.html .
Menachem Wecker, “Jewish Philanthropist Establishes Kansas City as Cultural Mecca,” Forward (March 14, 2017): http://forward.com/culture/365264/jewish-philanthropist-establishes-kansas-city-as-cultural-mecca/ .
Juliet Helmke, “The Bloch Collection Takes up Residence in Kansas City’s Nelson Atkins Museum,” BlouinArtInfo International, (March 15, 2017):
Erich Hatala Matthes, “Digital replicas are not soulless – they help us engage with art,” Apollo: The International Art Magazine (March 23, 2017):
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/digital-replicas-3d-printing-original-artworks/ .
Louise Nicholson, “How Kansas City got its magnificent museum,” Apollo (April 7, 2017): https://www.apollo-magazine.com/how-kansas-city-got-its-magnificent-museum/ .
Lilly Wei, “Julián Zugazagoitia: ‘Museums should generate interest and open a door that leads to further learning,’” Studio International (August 21, 2017):
Robert D. Hershey Jr., “Henry Bloch, H&R Block’s cofounder, dies at 96,” Boston Globe (April 23, 2019): https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/04/23/henry-bloch-block-cofounder/?arc404=true .
Robert D. Hershey Jr., “Henry W. Bloch, Tax-Preparation Pioneer (and Pitchman), Is Dead at 96,” New York Times (April 23, 2019): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/obituaries/henry-w-bloch-dead.html .
Claire Selvin, “Henry Wollman Bloch, Collector and Prominent Benefactor of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Is Dead at 96,” ArtNews (April 23, 2019): http://www.artnews.com/2019/04/23/henry-bloch-dead-96/ .
Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “Henry Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block, dies at 96,” The Kansas City Star 139, no. 219 (April 24, 2019): 1A.
“Henry Wollman Bloch (1922-2019),” Art Forum (April 24, 2019): https://www.artforum.com/news/henry-wollman-bloch-1922-2019-79547 .
Frank Morris, “Henry Bloch, Co-Founder Of H&R Block, Dies At 96,” npr.org (April 24, 2019): https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716641448/henry-bloch-co-founder-of-h-r-block-dies-at-96 .
Ignacio Villarreal, “Nelson-Atkins mourns loss of Henry Bloch,” ArtDaily.org (April 24, 2019): http://artdaily.com/news/113035/Nelson-Atkins-mourns-loss-of-Henry-Bloch#.XMB76qR7laQ .
Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “H&R Block co-founder, philanthropist Bloch dies,” The Cass County Democrat Missourian 140, no. 29 (April 26, 2019): 1A.
Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “KC businessman and philanthropist Henry Bloch dies,” Lee’s Summit Journal 132, no. 79 (April 26, 2019): 1A.
Luke Nozicka, “Family and friends remember Henry Bloch of H&R Block,” The Kansas City Star 139, no. 225 (April 30, 2019): 4A [repr. Luke Nozicka, “Family and friends remember Henry Bloch of H&R Block,” The Kansas City Star 139, no. 228 (May 3, 2019): 3A.
Eric Adler, “Sold for $3.25 million, Bloch’s home in Mission Hills may be torn down,” Kansas City Star 141, no. 90 (December 16, 2020): 2A.
Meghan L. Gray, “Edgar Degas, Dancer Making Points, ca. 1874–1876,” catalogue entry and Rachel Freeman, “Edgar Degas, Dancer Making Points, ca. 1874–1876,” technical entry in French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945: The Collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, ed., (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2021), https://doi.org/10.37764/78973.5.616.4033.
![Seated Nude (Study for the “Legend of Giotto” [unrealized work])](/internal/media/dispatcher/35960/thumbnail)
