Degas, Edgar: Ballet dancers

There are many great paintings to remind us that the artists of the Impressionist age were sensitively aware of contemporary life. Among the supreme masterpieces of the century are Degas's pictures of the ballet and its dancers. The impulse towards painting the contemporary scene came to him not only from Courbet and Manet but from his friend, the critic Duranty, the exponent of the aesthetics of naturalism. Yet in the particular direction of his tastes and his conception of design he was entirely individual. To study and convey movement was a chosen task, first undertaken on the race course and then in his many pictures of the Opera, viewed from behind the scenes, in the wings, or from the orchestra stalls during a performance.

Three Ballet Dancers, One with Dark Crimson Waist
1899 (170 Kb); Pastel on paper, 23 1/4 x 19 1/4 in; Barnes Foundation
Photograph by Charalambos Amvrosiou
The Dance Class
La danseuse aux chaussons
(thanks to Gerard Dahan.)
The Singer in Green
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(thanks to Andrew Sedik.)
Dance Class at the Opéra
1872; detail; Musée d'Orsay, Paris
La classe de danse (The Dancing class)
c. 1873-75 (140 Kb); Oil on canvas, 85 x 75 cm (33 1/2 x 29 1/2 in); Musee d'Orsay, Paris
The Rehearsal
c. 1873-78 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 41 x 61.7 cm (18 1/2 x 24 3/8 in); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Ballet Rehearsal
1875; Gouache and Pastel on canvas, 21-3/4" x 27"; George G. Frelinghuysen Collection, N.Y.
(thanks to Scott Van Note and Stéphane Bortzmeyer.)
Singer with a Glove
c. 1878 (110 Kb); Pastel and liquid medium on canvas, 52.8 x 41.1 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
L'etoile [La danseuse sur la scene] (The Star [Dancer on Stage])
1878 (150 Kb); Pastel on paper, 60 x 44 cm (23 5/8 x 17 3/8 in); Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Danseuse assise
c. 1879-80 (130 Kb); "Seated Dancer"; Charcoal and pastel on paper mounted on pasteboard, 63.5 x 48.7 cm (25 x 19 1/8 in); The Hermitage, St. Petersburg; No. GR 155-99. Formerly collection Otto Krebs, Holzdorf
(thanks to Mark Harden)
Three Dancers in Violet Tutues
or Three Dancers, Violet Skirts; 1898; Private collection
(thanks to Charalambos Amvrosiou, Richard Phillips and Andrew Lieu.)
Four Dancers
c. 1899 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 151.1 x 180.2 cm (59 1/2 x 71 in); National Gallery of Art, Washington

Thanks to the BMW Foundation, the WebMuseum mirrors, partners and contributors for their support.