Waiting is a
pastel on paper by the French
Impressionist Edgar Degas, completed between 1880 and 1882. Part of a series of pastels, paintings, mixed media drawings and sculptures of
ballerinas, it depicts one accompanied by her
chaperone, bent over ostensibly to massage her foot but with body language indicating anticipation. The work, which is jointly owned by the
Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, and the
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, has been read as emphasizing the brevity of a ballerina's career and the stress they undergo to obtain fleeting moments of elegance.
Painting: Edgar Degas