The Prima Ballerina by Edgar Degas

Prima Ballerina was painted in Paris around 1876 and represents a Ballerina from an angle of a catwalk behind the scenes. Edgar liked to paint scenes of such dancers and completed a number of noteworthy ballerina scenes. He sought to paint life through a keyhole in a way the audience will never see it. 

He was an impressionist which means he used obvious strokes, accurate depiction of light, the experience of time, and human experience (1). They sought to find a way to show life from a new vantage point. Their works were a radical departure from realism. 

This painting is actually not a painting in the traditional sense. It is a crayon type artistic work. This is not the same as the crayons of today but a chalk type instrument. It gives a softer image within the work and is sometimes considered difficult to work with. 

When I look at this painting I see an image of backstage life that others may not be familiar with. It is life in motion. The ballerina is engage is a graceful dance and appears to be fully engrossed in her art. The other characters are in blur much the same way you may experience it on a stage, a ball game, or other public activity when you are in the moment-Flow.

Flow is that special place where nothing else matters. You are simply taking in information and letting it go to create something new. Dancers, painters, sports players, actors, and many others have experienced the timelessness of flow. It is just a state of simply being and enjoying the activity without an reference to the outside world.

Ethical Decision Making and H&R Block

Dancer Making Points-Edgar Degas

The concept of ethical decision making applies to all fields from sports management to higher education to general business.  Even day-to-day decisions require an element of ethical decision making.  When driving home, one must decide whether to drive the speed limit or exceed it, endangering those on the road.  In the world of fine art, decisions are made all the time.  Here is a story about a decision that was made regarding Degas' Ballerina painting, "a $10 million dollar painting by Degas" (Dedman, 2010).

Safe to say that everyone in America has heard of  H & R Block, the tax company.  This pretty ballerina ended up on Mr. Henry Bloch's wall, owner of the H & R Block (Dedman, 2010).  Bloch had purchased this painting in 2005.  Although he purchased it, the Degas painting was actually stolen property. 

Christopher A. Marinello, executive director and general counsel for the Art Loss Register in London, said in an interview that buyers should do their own checks on the authenticity and good title of art."It costs less than $100 to check the ownership of a $5 million painting. People will buy a used car and they'll take it around the corner and put it up on a lift and check it out, and they'll get a Carfax report. They'll spend millions on art, and do nothing. (Dedham, 2010)

Through a bit of smoke and mirrors (an art museum in Kansas City) and an elderly former owner of the art who despised depositions (Dedham, 2010), Mr. H. Bolch ended up with Degas' painting on his wall.

Where did the decision go awry?  Read more NBC's Article 

Author: Dr. Andree Swanson

Dedman, B. (2010). The $10 million Degas ballerina, heiress Huguette Clark and the tax man. NBC News. Retrieved from http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/15/10693680-the-10-million-degas-ballerina-heiress-huguette-clark-and-the-tax-man?lite