In a rehearsal room of the Paris Opéra, an elderly ballet master leans on his cane as he instructs his pupils, while young dancers stand, stretch, scratch their backs or chat. Degas painted not the glamour of the stage but the real, weary routine behind the scenes.
Key facts
- Artist
- Edgar Degas1834–1917 · French
- Date
- 1871–74
- Period
- Impressionism1860–1890
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 85 × 75 cm
- Location
- Musée d'Orsay Paris, France
Actual size
Compared with an adult 170 cm tall
Palette
#736A57#8A836B#574F41#9F9884#2F2820Background
Degas made more than a thousand works on the theme of ballet dancers, in oil, pastel, drawing and sculpture. He frequented the Paris Opéra, observing rehearsals and backstage life.
The ballet master is the celebrated choreographer Jules Perrot. The old opera house where such classes took place burned down in 1873, and Degas reconstructed the rehearsal room from memory and sketches.
The painting was commissioned by the baritone and collector Jean-Baptiste Faure and shown at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876.
Technique & composition
Degas's composition shows the influence of Japanese prints and photography: a slightly raised viewpoint, floorboards receding diagonally to the right, foreground figures cropped by the frame and an off-centre balance, as if caught in a snapshot.
The tutus are built up in thin layers of white and grey, accented by . Light from the windows falls on the white gauze, creating a soft atmosphere.
Details
Symbolism
Backstage reality
Degas's dancers are not ethereal sylphs but tired girls: one , another adjusts her dress, another daydreams. Most came from poor families; known as “petits rats”, they danced to earn a living.
The chaperoning mothers
accompany their daughters, hoping they will become stars or attract wealthy patrons. The detail hints at the complex social realities behind the ballet world.
Stories
- Did you know?
The green at lower left was used to sprinkle the floor so the dancers would not slip.
- Did you know?
Look closely by the feet of the dancer in the foreground: is sniffing the floor, a touch of humour in the serious class.
Legacy
His ballet pictures made Degas the most distinctive member of the Impressionist circle. His study of movement and bold compositions influenced Toulouse-Lautrec and twentieth-century photography and film.
