An artwork on Galleree from Cleveland Museum of Art.
About the artwork
Dancersc. 1896
Edgar Degas
Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence and attended life classes at the Villa Medici in Rome. A visit to Normandy in 1861 may have introduced him to the racetrack. In Paris he continued to study at the Louvre, where he met Manet (q.v.) in 1862. Apart from his continuous interest in portraiture and history painting, Degas began to pay attention to subjects of modern life. Between 1865 and 1870, he exhibited at the Salon. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, he enlisted in the artillery, but because of his poor eyesight he served (with Manet) in the infantry. After the war he traveled first to London and, in 1872-73, visited his uncle and brothers who had a cotton business in New Orleans. Degas participated in the first impressionist exhibition of 1874. He continued to exhibit with these artists until 1886 but never completely considered himself a member of the group, preferring to call himself a realist or naturalist. While many of the impressionists painted en plein air, Degas worked with models in his studio and, later in his career, from his imagination. In addition to painting, he experimented often with monotypes, engraving, pastels, sculpture, and photography. He traveled extensively-London, Naples, Spain, Morocco, and Switzerland-but continued to draw his subject matter from modern-day Paris. Other recurring themes would be the female nude and the ballet dancer. After the impressionist exhibition of 1886, Degas no longer participated in group shows. Instead he sold his works to private dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. In the 1890s he began his own art collection, which, besides many works on paper, included paintings by such artists as Ingres, Cézanne (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), and van Gogh (q.v.). His own art at the time became characterized by broader strokes of paint, charcoal, and pastel and the use of more vibrant colors, partly because of problems with his vision. His failing eyesight and poor health caused him to abandon his pursuit of art during the last years of his life.
Degas depicted the ballet in more than 1,000 paintings, prints, pastels, and sculptures. He preferred private, offstage moments to glamorous curtain calls or artfully constructed compositions. Here, three dancers stretch together in the wings, unaware of the viewer’s presence. Powdery layers of yellow, orange, and pink pastel create a rough surface characteristic of Degas’s late work in the medium. He invented special techniques that allowed him to build layer upon layer of color with varying degrees of opacity and transparency. This pastel’s rich surface and intense, vibrating palette is the result of such innovative methods.
Degas joined six separate irregularly shaped sheets of paper to make this work, and their connections are faintly visible on its surface.
pastel with charcoal on tracing paper mounted on paper and backed with gray board
Sheet: 55.7 x 41.4 cm (21 15/16 x 16 5/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
In the silent shadows of the theater, where the chaos of the stage gave way to whispered secrets, Edgar Degas found his muse. Over a career that spanned decades, he captured the fleeting world of ballet in a staggering array of over 1,000 creations—paintings, prints, pastels, and sculptures. Yet, it was not the dazzling performances bathed in the spotlight that called to him; rather, it was the private, intimate moments hidden away in the wings of the stage, away from the prying eyes of the audience.
Imagine, if you will, three dancers caught in a quiet embrace of movement, stretching gently in the dim light. Their graceful forms arch and bend, seeking that delicate balance of strength and ease, utterly unaware of the viewer who gazes upon them. This is where Degas’s genius shone brightest—not in the grand elegance of the stage but in these tender glimpses that reveal the humanity behind the art.
In this particular piece, the soft texture comes alive with layers of pastel—powdery whispers of yellow, orange, and pink that seem to dance across the paper just like the dancers do on stage. These were not mere strokes; each brush of color told a story, built up from Degas’s innovative techniques that allowed him to weave color upon color. His mastery lay in creating surfaces rich and intricate, where layers of opacity and transparency vibrated with an energy all their own.
As you step into this world of Degas, the vibrant palette invites you in, pulling you deeper into the serenity of the dancers’ moment. Here, in this quiet sanctum where art and life intertwine, one can feel the pulse of passion and preparation, the dream of performance waiting just beyond the curtain's edge. Through his eyes, we catch a glimpse of a beauty often overlooked—the peace found in the moments before the spectacle.
About the artist
Creating transformative experiences through art “for the benefit of all the people forever.”The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The artworks shared on this platform are sourced from the museum's Open Access data under the CC0 license. No endorsement is implied.Address: 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, USA 44106
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