The Russian Dance

This characteristic drawing by Le Prince depicts a turbaned man and an elegant young woman dancing together in a small clearing. They are accompanied by two musicians and watched by a small crowd huddled under the shade of a tent. In the foreground a Kalmyk archer, his quiver by his side, has turned away from the entertainment and placed his arm around the lady sitting beside him. The aquatint version of the present drawing was one of the works which Le Prince exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1769.

The theme of Russian peasants at leisure, and more specifically music and dance were common themes in Le Prince’s work.