Leo Martínez
Edgar Degas was a painter who lived from 1834 to 1917 and is celebrated for his artworks depicting dancers, a subject that dominated his art for almost four decades. Degas was interested in capturing the moving human body, and ballerinas were the perfect subject to capture such motion. Degas's interest in physiognomy, or how a person's social stature or form of employment may be revealed by their physiognomy, posture, dress, and other attributes, is reflected in his paintings of dancers and laundresses. Degas's works featuring scenes from the opera include Ballet at the Paris Opera (1877), The Ballet of the Nuns (1871-1872), The Orchestra of the Opera (c. 1870), The Dance Foyer at the Opera (1872), The Dance Class (c. 1873), and The Ballet Instructor (1876).
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Subject matter | Degas was interested in capturing the moving human body, and ballerinas were the perfect subject to capture such motion. |
| Style | Degas preferred to portray ballet by stripping away the poetry and illusion to show the hard work, boredom, and beauty behind the scenes. |
| Medium | Degas used pastels, oils, and other media to capture the atmosphere of the Paris Opera Ballet. |
| Technique | Degas often worked from memory, photographs, or live models, and his works were prepared, calculated, practiced, and developed in stages. |
| Innovation | Degas's backstage access to the Paris Opera allowed him to experiment with different viewpoints, lighting effects, and the study of movement. |
| Interest in physiognomy | Degas believed that a person's social stature or form of employment could be revealed by their physiognomy, posture, dress, and other attributes. |
| Unfinished works | Degas's mature style is distinguished by conspicuously unfinished passages, which he attributed to his eye troubles and his predilection for starting many projects without finishing them. |
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What You'll Learn
Capturing movement
Edgar Degas was fascinated by capturing movement in his paintings. As a self-proclaimed "realist", he aimed to portray the human body in motion, and ballerinas were the perfect subject for this endeavour. The graceful lines and soft colours of ballet dancers lent themselves well to his Impressionist-influenced style.
Degas's interest in capturing movement extended beyond the dancers themselves to the broader realm of the Opera. He explored multiple viewpoints, lighting effects, and the contrast between the darkened orchestra pit and the illuminated theatre. He also captured the "fine bunches" of people, such as the wealthy male patrons who prowled backstage.
Degas's unique perspective on movement is evident in his painting style. He employed vivid colours, bold brushstrokes, and abstract depictions of swirling dancers, perhaps influenced by his declining eyesight. His works often appear as ""snapshots", freezing moments in time and imparting a sense of movement. This is particularly notable in his painting "Place de la Concorde".
The artist's technique evolved over time, influenced by modern photography and the spontaneous images and off-kilter angles it produced. He experimented with various media, including pastels, which he applied in complex layers and textures, allowing him to reconcile line work with expressive colour.
Degas's dedication to capturing movement is further exemplified by his meticulous process. He worked from memory, photographs, or live models and often repeated subjects, varying their composition or treatment. He was deliberate and calculative in his approach, always seeking to refine and improve his work.
In conclusion, Edgar Degas's fascination with capturing movement at the Opera resulted in some of the most elegant and famous artworks in history. Through his unique style and experimental techniques, Degas created timeless portrayals of poise and grace, capturing the very essence of movement on canvas.
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Exploring the public and private spaces of the opera
Edgar Degas' interest in the opera was multifaceted, exploring both the public and private spaces of this world. His paintings of the opera capture the graceful and the gritty, the onstage spectacle and the behind-the-scenes reality.
The public spaces of the opera, such as the auditorium, stage, and boxes, provided Degas with a rich visual tapestry to draw from. He was fascinated by the moving human body, and the ballerinas of the opera, with their athletic physicality and graceful movements, became a recurring subject in his work. Degas' paintings often portrayed the audience and orchestra as prominently as the dancers onstage, capturing the entire spectacle of the opera experience. He also explored the contrast between the darkened orchestra pit and the brightly lit theatre, creating a distinct visual effect.
Degas was granted backstage access to the Paris Opera, allowing him to sketch and paint the private world behind the scenes. He frequented the wings and classrooms of the Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera and its Ballet. Here, he captured the hard work and boredom that existed alongside the beauty and grace of the performances. Degas' paintings reveal the sordid side of the opera, with wealthy male patrons loitering backstage and in the foyers, flirting with the young dancers.
Degas' paintings also explored the dance studios, where dancers rehearsed and perfected their craft. His works often depicted dancers gathered around an instructor, capturing the rhythm and movement of their exercises. The artist's interest in physiognomy, the belief that physical appearance reveals character, is evident in his paintings of dancers and their body types, which reflect their occupations.
The opera, with its closed and veiled nature, provided Degas with infinite possibilities for experimentation. He played with multiple viewpoints, lighting effects, and the assemblage of bodies, creating unique compositions. Degas' works often blurred the distinction between portraiture and genre pieces, reflecting his belief that art is a convention, a transmutation of reality.
Degas' mature style is marked by conspicuously unfinished passages, a result of his eye troubles and his predilection for starting many projects without finishing them. His works on the opera, with their graceful lines and soft colours, contributed to some of the most elegant and famous artworks in history.
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The opera as a microcosm with infinite possibilities
Opera and ballet were a fashionable part of Parisian cultural life, and Edgar Degas was a frequent visitor to performances. Degas was interested in capturing the moving human body, and ballerinas were the perfect subject to capture such motion. The Opera also offered Degas an endless supply of motifs, and the closed realm of the Opera was a microcosm with infinite possibilities.
Degas's works were "prepared, calculated, practiced, developed in stages", and he was interested in the presentation of his paintings. He was a deliberative artist, and his works were made up of parts, with the adjustment of each part to the whole occasion for infinite reflection and experiment. This is reflected in his statement that "in art, nothing should look like chance, not even movement".
Degas's interest in the Opera can be traced back to his early career when he made the Opera his permanent base. He was granted backstage access to the dance rehearsal rooms, where he could closely observe and sketch the stylised poses of the ballerinas. He also had access to the private world of the ballerinas through his influential friends, who helped him slip backstage. Here, he could witness the sordid side of the Opera, with wealthy male patrons and donors prowling backstage and loitering behind the sets.
Degas's works capture the graceful spectacle of the Paris Opera ballerinas, with the abstract nature of ballet and the airy motion of the ballerinas in unique harmony with his style and perspective. His paintings often portray the audience and orchestra as prominently as the ballerinas onstage, and he experiments with multiple viewpoints framing a scene in unexpected ways. Degas also captures the contrast between the darkened orchestra pit and the brightly lit theatre, as well as the study of movement and gesture.
Degas's works are not true to life but are phantasmagorical, created in his studio and filtered by memory and enriched by his imagination. He preferred to portray ballet by stripping away the poetry and illusion to show the hard work, boredom, and common beauty behind the scenes. This is reflected in his statement that "one sees as one wants to see; this is false; and this falsity constitutes art".
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The opera as a laboratory for experimenting with new techniques
Opera and ballet were a fashionable part of Parisian cultural life, and Edgar Degas was a music lover and regular visitor to performances. Degas's interest in the opera was not limited to the performances themselves, but extended to the private spaces beyond the auditorium, including dance studios and backstage. This closed realm, from which very little was known to the outside world, offered Degas a microcosm with infinite possibilities.
Degas's work was influenced by the Impressionist movement and modern photography, with its spontaneous images and off-kilter angles. He was interested in capturing movement, and the opera provided him with the opportunity to closely observe and sketch the stylised poses of the ballerinas as they went through their paces. The opera was an open studio for Degas, where he could scrutinise the rhythm of the dancers in motion as often as he liked.
Degas's work was also influenced by his interest in physiognomy, the fashionable belief that physical appearance was linked to character. He studied how a person's social stature or form of employment may be revealed by their physiognomy, posture, dress, and other attributes. This interest is evident in his paintings of dancers and laundresses, where their occupations are revealed by their body type and physicality.
Degas was a deliberative artist who experimented with different techniques and media, including painting, pastel, drawing, sculpture, engraving, and monotype. He was notoriously reluctant to consider a painting complete, often leaving passages conspicuously unfinished even in otherwise tightly rendered paintings. He explained this by saying, "In art, nothing should look like chance, not even movement".
Degas's first taste of success came from a portrait commissioned in 1870 by Désiré Dihau, a bassoonist at the Opera. This composition foreshadowed many of his later opera scenes, and after the 1870 war and the Commune, he made the Opera his permanent base.
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The opera as a source of inspiration for daring technical innovations
Opera and ballet were a fashionable part of Parisian cultural life, and Edgar Degas was a frequent visitor to performances. He was interested in capturing the moving human body, and ballerinas were the perfect subject to capture such motion. Degas's backstage access to the dance rehearsal rooms at the Paris Opera allowed him to closely observe and sketch the stylised poses of the ballerinas as they went through their paces. The opera was an open studio for Degas, where he could scrutinise the rhythm of the dancers in motion as often as he liked.
Degas's interest in the opera and ballet extended beyond the dancers themselves. He also painted audiences, orchestras, and wealthy male patrons and donors who prowled backstage. He was interested in physiognomy, studying how a person's social stature or form of employment may be revealed by their physiognomy, posture, dress, and other attributes. This is evident in his paintings of dancers and laundresses, where their occupations are revealed by their body type and physicality.
Degas's work on opera and ballet scenes inspired some of his most daring technical innovations. He experimented with various media, including paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, and sculpture. He was a deliberative artist, carefully planning and experimenting with his works. He often left his works conspicuously unfinished, blaming his eye troubles, though some colleagues and collectors were skeptical of this explanation.
Degas's use of pastels to paint dancers has been described as the "powder of a butterfly's wings," reflecting the short-lived nature of a dancer's beauty. He also played with multiple viewpoints, lighting effects, and the contrast between the darkened orchestra pit and the brightly lit theatre. He merged subjects with their backgrounds, reflecting how the dancers were part of another realm of being, just visible from the stage.
Degas's first monotype, "The Ballet Master" (c. 1876), and his wax statue "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" (1881) were groundbreaking works that emerged from his fascination with the opera. These works and his other opera-inspired creations have been described as "among the most sophisticated and visually compelling works he ever created."
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Frequently asked questions
Degas was interested in capturing the moving human body, and ballerinas were the perfect subject to capture such motion. He also found the Opera to be a source of endless motifs.
Degas was a music lover and a regular visitor to performances. He explored both the public and private spaces of the Opera, including dance studios and backstage. He also had backstage access to the dance rehearsal rooms, which allowed him to closely observe and sketch the stylised poses of the ballerinas.
Degas used a pastel technique to paint the dancers, which was described as the "powder of a butterfly's wings". He also employed multiple viewpoints, lighting effects, and the study of movement and gesture in his paintings. He often used smooth, even mediums with light impasto in the Dutch style.
Some of Degas's notable Opera scenes include "The Ballet of the Nuns" from "Robert le Diable", "Ballet Rehearsal on Stage", "The Ballet Instructor", "The Orchestra of the Opera", "The Dance Class", and "Two Dancers on a Stage".
