Anne Estelle Rice was a young modernist at work in Paris when she created The Egyptian Dancers, inspired by the 1909 Paris debut of the Ballets Russes with an avant-garde production of Cleopatra. Determined to evoke the ballet’s angular choreography and sensual costumes (by Leon Bakst), Rice employed decoratively simplified forms and unnatural colors inspired by a French modernist aesthetic called Fauvism (fauve means “wild beast”). Several years after its acclaimed European debut in 1910, the painting was among numerous works that Rice left in the care of the American writer Theodore Dreiser when an exhibition planned for New York was subverted by wartime concerns. Untraced for the past sixty years, this recently recovered canvas will stand among the most significant achievements by an American modernist, or by an American woman, at work among the turn-of-the-century Parisian avant-garde.
✨ Did you know? ✨
Ballet traces its roots back to Italy in the 1500s, where it was first developed for the Italian royal court. The court wasn’t just about politics—it was the beating heart of culture. Music, painting, fashion, poetry, and dance all flourished there, blending into a lifestyle of elegance and artistry. Ballet emerged as a reflection of this world, combining grace, storytelling, and discipline into a new art form. From these beginnings in Italy, ballet later spread to France and beyond, shaping the foundation of the dance we celebrate today. ๐ฉฐ๐๐จ๐ถ
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