Group of Dancers
- MAKER:
Artist
Edgar Degas ( French, 1834 - 1917 )
- DATE:
- c. 1895–1897
General Description
While Group of Dancers features Edgar Degas's signature subject of ballet dancers, it is also a curious experiment in medium and setting. Rather than drawing with pastels on paper, Degas worked on a wooden panel, a material more commonly used as a support for paint. The wood is streaked with layers of pastel and gouache (opaque watercolor), which together produce a refined satin finish; however, the wood grain of the panel remains visible and thus becomes part of the composition. Degas positions his dancers against what may be a stage backdrop showing a landscape with ancient ruins, likely the Athenian acropolis, as an allusion to a distant classical past.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2015.
Web Resources
-
YouTube
Watch this animated video about Degas's depictions of ballet dancers from the "Art with Mati and Dada" series. -
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Learn more about Edgar Degas.