Dancer

Bertalan Sz�kely, who produced great paintings in various different genres, first turned to the problem of capturing the gracious movements of female dancers in the 1860s, at the time of painting Ladislas V and Ulrik Cillei. Later the same theme reappeared in his series The Life of the Woman and The Life of the Lascivious Woman. He painted his “The Dancer” around 1875. Here he seems to have been much preoccupied with lighting and the impressionistic delineation of the tired dancer at rest. Despite the warm yellow-red tones, a quiet resignation dominates the painting - this mood is probably in reference to the letter the fragile female beauty is holding in her hand.