This charming sheet shows studies for details of compositions that were executed in the late 1870s. The figure of the dancer holding a fan to her face is a study for the dancer to the right of the singer in Café-Concert (1876-1877, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington). The hand holding a bouquet and the lower figure relate to a number of compositions such as the pastel Dancer Bowing from 1878 and the painting The Star from 1880.

Degas never forgot the emphasis on the importance of line that he had received during his early training. His use of a clear, hard outline that distinguished his works from those of the other Impressionists. A consummate draughtsman, he worked with both energy and delicacy and his capacity for observation enabled him to accurately capture gestures and movements. An attentive observer of the most diverse scenes, he took a passionate interest in everyday gestures. He would often draw a figure from several angles and execute various studies of the same subject on a single page (Four Studies of a Dancer, 1878-9; Paris, Musée d’Orsay). The juxtaposition of these studies within the space of a single sheet, oriented in different directions, suggests movement. Degas invented many ways of breaking up his forms, isolating a detail in order to intensify perception and multiplying the facets of a figure in order to better explore its form.