LONDON, UK.- Sotheby's evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art to be held on Tuesday, February 8, 2005 features an array of works by artists for whom the female form was a central theme. From Degas' studies of ballet dancers through to Delvaux's depiction of Venus, the selection of paintings demonstrate what a vital element women played to some of the most important artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.  The sale includes two particularly good works on paper by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) of one of his most familiar subjects, ballet dancers. Les Trois danseuses jaunes (above), dates from circa 1897, and with its vivid colours and spontaneous application of pigment, it is a particularly vibrant example of the artist's later style, with its more impressionistic approach and explosions of colour. It is estimated at �1,200,000-1,800,000. The second work, �tude de danseuses, closely relates to Degas' most famous sculpture, Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, which Sotheby's sold last February for �5 million and which is now in the Royal Academy in London. This drawing shows the dancer in the same pose, from slightly different angles, as the finished sculpture, and represents a fascinating insight into the most important Impressionist sculpture. Executed in 1878-79, it is estimated at �250,000-350,000.