Degas and the World of Ballet

 

Introduction

In the 1800s ballet was an art form enjoyed by many, but also observed for a more sinister cause as well. Ballerina’s wore fitting clothing that revealed their arms and legs during rehearsal and their performances. Many of the spectators would attend to observe this atmosphere that higher class women would never dress like. Ballerinas generally came from the lower class of society and often grew up with very little. Working at the opera was a way for them to make a living, unfortunately often at the loss of their own mortality. It was a normal practice at the time for wealthy men to “sponsor” a dancer. This entailed them financially supporting them with the terms usually of a sexual nature. The relationships between these donors and dancers were of an unbalanced power with the man having the leverage or control. Wealthy donors usually saw these young girls as easy to dominate, because of their low socioeconomic situation. 

Degas’ Interest in Ballet Dancers

The ballet dancers of the Palais Garnier in Paris was the subject of about 1,500 works of Degas; clearly he had a personal interest in these dancers. Degas said to Ambroise Vollard, a Parisian art dealer, “People call me the painter of dancing girls…” He goes on to say, “It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.” He valued the physicality and grace that ballet brought together. In his early days he painted a lot of horses because he was interested in the muscle, lines, grace and overall physicality of the horse. Those same aspects are things he valued in dancers he painted. Degas sought to capture the raw reality of life at the opera. He paints the dancers very honestly, the dancers are stretching, yawning or fixing their shoes in many of his paintings. He brought out into the light a world that was known but not talked about and not received well when it was.

Title: The Rehearsal of Ballet Onstage

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca. 1874

Medium: Oil colors freely mixed with turpentine, with traces of watercolor and pastel over pen-and-ink drawing on cream-colored wove paper, laid down on bristol board and mounted on canvas

Dimensions: 21 3/8 x 28 3/4 in. (54.3 x 73 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Museum:The Met

This piece first appeared in the Impressionist exhibition of 1874. It is one of three versions of this scene in which dancers are rehearsing on stage. He uses negative space to show us a glimpse into their world, and also keep us wondering what we can not see. He painted the dancers in a very honest way. They are yawning, stretching or fixing their hair, there is nothing stylized about it. In the scene we see two men sitting in the right hand corner observing the dancers. This shows us a clear vision into the lives of “opera rats,” constantly under the watch of wealthy men.

Title: Dancers, Pink and Green

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca. 1890

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 32 3/8 x 29 3/4 in. (82.2 x 75.6 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Museum: The Met

Degas uses the techniques of pastel he had worked on in the 1880s to create this oil painting. It is easy to see the texture in the dancers' costumes and on the set design on stage. Degas uses brushes and his figures to layer the paint to get the texture we see. Degas picks an interesting viewpoint, one from backstage, almost like he’s watching in secret. He captures dancers in the last moments before they enter the stage, fixing their costumes and hair. 

Title: Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: Modeled 1878-81: cast after 1936

Medium: Painted bronze with cotton and silk on a wooden base

Dimensions: overall without base: 98.9 x 34.7 x 35.2cm (38 15/16 x 13 11/16 x 13 ⅞ in)

Classification: sculpture

Museum: Nation Gallery of Art

Degas shook the art world when he took a very different approach in creating this sculpture. Instead of creating the whole form with the same material, he dresses the figure with real clothing. This was not well received in the spring of 1881 when it was presented in an exhibit. Degas chooses to depict a young fourteen year old dancer, which might shock you. He wanted to bring attention to the hard life of dancers and highlight often how young and impressionable they were.

Title: Dancers Backstage

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: 1876-1883

Medium: oil

Dimension:overall: 24.2 x 18.8 cm (9 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.)

Classification: painting 

Museum: National Gallery of Art

Dancers Backstage, has a color quality to it that gets the viewers attention. The bright pinks and green that we have seen in other of Degas works. The colors however are not the main point of this painting. Degas purposely places a dancer front and center with her arms folded and her gaze down as a man in black hovers over her. This man is identified as abooné, a wealthy sponsor. It is clear to see the power imbalance depicted in this scene. It is easy to feel the comfortable vulnerability from the young dancer.

Title: The Dance Lesson

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca.1879

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: overall: 38 x 88 cm (14 15/16 x 34 ⅝ in.)

Classification: painting 

Museum: The National Art Gallery

In The Dance Lesson, we see a horizontal canvas that Degas was experimenting with at the time. It is a long space with flattened shapes and figures, this is where we can see the influence of Japanese prints that Degas was inspired by. He depicts the dancers sitting or stretching, they look tired. It is easy to see the hard work and education that these dancers go through each day to perfect their art form.