Edgar Degas - The Dance Class

 The Dance Class - 1874

Musée d'Orsay - Paris

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is regarded as one of the founders of the Impressionists although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a Realist . He was a superb draughtsman with great admiration for the Old Masters and the work of Ingres. The first part of the 1870’s saw Degas defining his own style. With a clear fascination with human forms he soon revealed his passion for contemporary subject matter, becoming a specialist on the dramatic world of ballet and theater. The artist gave us on his paintings several secret glimpses into rehearsal studios. The viewer general hides with him, in the shadows, watching “through-the-keyhole” the fluid movements of the slim, supple limbs and graceful bodies of the young ballet dancers. Degas has depicted the dancers from unusual angles and viewpoints often painting glimpses either from stage or backstage in a style quite radical for those times. On this particular painting “The Dance Class” he shows us two dancers waiting to be assessed by ballet master Jules Perrot. Degas prepared assiduously by making numerous drawings of dancers posing for him in his studio. His lively brushwork and light, bright colors were typical of the Impressionist movement. Their use of color was partly influenced by Japanese prints, in what it was called in France by Japonism which also made dramatic use of the “cut-off” composition – where the subject is chopped off at the frame – that Degas deploys so cleverly here and throughout his work. Degas, was also heavily influenced by the early years of photography and by overturning traditional compositional rules. This work looks like a snapshot but it is meticulously planned, with the eye drowned instantly to the arresting foreground group of two dancers before being taken into the picture by the receding floor planks. Degas admired the Dutch School and here shows the same ability to combine both traditional and modern approaches giving a new status to everyday life.

Source: Ann Kay, Wikipedia