The National Gallery acquires 'Ballet Dancers' – a major pastel by Degas

The National Gallery has acquired Ballet Dancers by Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834–1917) – one of the Gallery’s new Bicentenary acquisitions announced to coincide with the opening of CC Land: The Wonder of Art, the biggest reconfiguration of the National Gallery’s collection, and of the newly transformed Sainsbury Wing on 10 May 2025.

The pastel by Degas was acquired through the Government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme (under a hybrid agreement*) from the estate of Mrs Ann Marks and allocated to the National Gallery, in negotiations brokered by Christie’s.

The picture, which can be seen in Room 42, was bought with the support of the National Gallery Trust, 2025. The acceptance of the painting settled £7.8 million in tax and the National Gallery, to whom it has been permanently allocated, has made good the difference with a contribution of £1.5 million pounds.
Depicting five dancers dressed in vibrant orange and turquoise tutus assembling off-stage after a demanding performance, 'Ballet Dancers' is one of five pastels by Degas showing this composition, none of them identical. The artist made numerous studies of individual dancers, then combined them into group sequences.

Ballet dancers were an enduring inspiration for the artist who throughout his long career produced multiple studies, pastels and oil paintings of dancers rehearsing, performing and resting. The dancer, alone or in groups, provided the artist with unlimited opportunity to study the female figure, drapery and lighting effects.

This picture shows the complex pastel technique favoured by Degas during the 1880s, layering, blending and smudging the tones to create the effect of rich, pulsating colour. The scene’s apparent naturalism belies careful composition. Sharp stabs of pure pastel bring out rich highlights.

This new acquisition complements the National Gallery’s rich holdings of Degas’s work including another of his studies of ballet dancers, an oil on canvas, from about 1890‒1900.

'Ballet Dancers' is one of a group of new acquisitions. The others are A View of the Sky from a Prison Window by Carl Gustav Carus (1823) and A Banquet Still Life by Floris van Dijck (1622).

These follow recent announcements of other acquisitions for the Gallery’s Bicentenary - King David by Guercino (also through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, though not a hybrid), the early 16th-century Netherlandish or French altarpiece The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and the new commission for the Gallery’s Contextual Collection Mud Sun by Sir Richard Long.

These works are all on display together with those NG200 acquisitions announced last year: Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s After the Audience, Poussin’s Eucharist (also an Acceptance in Lieu acquisition with a hybrid arrangement) and Eva Gonzalès’s The Full-length Mirror.

Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: ‘I am delighted that the National Gallery has acquired this important pastel by Degas for its Bicentenary, greatly enriching our collection of this artist’s work. I am grateful to the estate of Mrs Ann Marks, Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant, Arts Council England as administrators of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, and Christie's for making the acquisition of this beautiful pastel possible.’

Arts Minister, Sir Chris Bryant says: ‘Edgar Degas played a leading role in the Impressionist art movement and was well known for his depictions of ballet dancers. Thanks to the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, the acquisition will allow visitors to the National Gallery to gain a better understanding of Degas's breathtaking work, improving this significant collection detailing vibrant scenes of dancers and showcasing his talent working with pastel and oil paintings.’

Michael Clarke CBE, Chair of the Acceptance in Lieu Panel, says: ’This wonderful pastel of Ballet Dancers demonstrates Degas’s mastery of this medium. I am delighted the National Gallery, with the aid of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, has been able to acquire this outstanding example of his art in this technique. It is a marvellous addition to the Gallery’s small but exceptional collection of pastels that includes Jean-Étienne Liotard’s masterpiece The Lavergne Family Breakfast (1754), also recently acquired through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme. Further proof, if needed, of the crucial importance of the scheme and its contribution to the growth of our national collections.’

Image: Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, 'Ballet Dancers', 1888

Notes to editors

NG6705: Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas
'Ballet Dancers', 1888
Pastel on paper on board
62.6 × 70.8 cm
Accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax (under a hybrid agreement*) from the estate of Mrs Ann Marks and allocated to the National Gallery, bought with the support of the National Gallery Trust, 2025

*A hybrid arrangement occurs when the amount of tax that can be settled through the acceptance of a work exceeds the size of the offeror’s tax liability. In this scenario, the recipient organisation raises the funds to settle the difference.

The picture, on display in Room 42, was bought with the support of the National Gallery Trust, 2025. The acceptance of the painting settled £7,891,241 in tax and the National Gallery, to whom it has been permanently allocated, has made good the difference with a contribution of £1,558,759.09.About Hilaire

Germain Edgar Degas, 1834-1917

Degas specialised in scenes of contemporary life, including dancers, entertainers and women at their toilette. His mastery of technique was superb, and he experimented with various media including pastel. Degas remains a popular artist today; his changing styles and preoccupations are well represented in the collection.

Degas exhibited from the beginning with the Impressionists in Paris. He was able to follow an independent path; his private income meant that he was not forced to attract buyers. He spent most of his life in Paris, abandoning his study of law in 1855 to train with the academic painter Louis Lamothe. In 1855 he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He was in Rome 1856/7, and subsequently often travelled to Italy. He deeply admired Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, but soon developed an Impressionist approach, under the influence of Edouard Manet, whom he knew well.

Degas was a reclusive man, though famed as a brilliant conversationalist. He practised the new technique of photography, which perhaps affected his approach to composition. He was a sculptor as well as a painter, especially in his later years when deteriorating sight troubled him and he was forced to work in the studio close to the model. His later graphic works are mostly in pastel.

Acceptance in Lieu (AiL)

The Acceptance in Lieu (AiL) scheme is administered by Arts Council England. AiL allows those who have a bill of Inheritance Tax to pay the tax by transferring important or pre-eminent cultural, scientific or historic allocations to the nation. AiL is not a philanthropy scheme, and items are not ‘donated’ to a museum, library or archive, pre-eminent works are offered in lieu of tax. Material accepted under the scheme is allocated to a public collection and is available for all. The Acceptance in Lieu Panel, chaired by Michael Clarke CBE, advises on whether property offered in lieu is of suitable importance (pre-eminent) and offered at a value which is fair to both nation and taxpayer.

Arts Council England

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Arts Council England’s vision, set out in their strategy Let’s Create is that by 2030, they want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where everyone has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026 they will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from the National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Until autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994 it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants.

About Christie’s

Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business with a physical presence in 46 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. Renowned and trusted for our expert live and online-only auctions, as well as bespoke Private Sales, Christie’s unparalleled network of specialists offers our clients a full portfolio of global services, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s  auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $500 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 7 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction, launched the first fully on-chain auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art and manages an investment fund to support innovative startups in the art market. Christie’s is also committed to advancing  responsible culture  throughout its business and communities worldwide. To learn more, browse, bid, discover, and join us for the best of art and luxury at christies.com or by downloading Christie’s apps.

The National Gallery is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bellini, Cezanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to care for and enhance the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free.

On 10 May 2024 the National Gallery was 200 years old, and we started our Bicentenary celebration, a year-long festival of art, creativity and imagination, marking two centuries of bringing people and paintings together.

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