The name Edgar Degas is practically synonymous with “the man who does those ballerina paintings”.
The French-born impressionist/realist is probably the artist with whom we most associate with paintings and sculptures of dancers.
But what is it that attracts even non-ballet enthusiasts to Degas ballerina paintings?
I believe it’s because Degas offers us a voyeuristic look at what happens behind the Parisian glamor of opera house chandeliers and red velvet stage curtains, a perspective that only the dancers themselves and a privileged few have the opportunity to experience first-hand.
N.B. Over the years, due to my general interest in culture and tendency to want to assuage my curiosities, I hold snippets of memories and random bits of knowledge about Degas in my mind. For additional support in writing this piece, I have used WikiArt as reference for my observations, data about his paintings, and where they are currently located.
Although his Ballet Scene from Robert la Diable series of paintings (1871-1872) is presented from the point of view from an orchestra seat, Musicians in the Orchestra (1872) is clearly angled from depths of an orchestra pit, and several works of dancers bowing with bouquets seem to be viewed from an opera box, the majority of Degas’ oil paintings, pastels, and sculptures depict scenes inside a ballet studio, on stage before the audience ever arrives, or from backstage.
For example, in Dancers at the Old Opera House (c. 1877), Degas captures what perhaps the ballet company’s director or the theater’s stage manager would see from a post in the downstage right wing.
And in Dancer Against a Stage Flat (c. 1880) the perspective is perhaps that of another dancer, a ballet master, or stage crew.
We even get glimpses of abonnés, the wealthy male subscription holders (some of whom were known to have affairs with certain dancers they were financially supporting) at the theater in Ludovic Halevy Speaking with Madame Cardinal (c. 1876-1877), Dancer’s Dressing Room (c. 1878), and The Curtain (c. 1880).
Over twenty years ago, Smithsonian Magazine published an article in response to a “Degas and the Dance” exhibition that was making its way around the United States at the time. In it, they mention that Degas “would later become an abonné himself” which makes me wonder if there’s a self-portrait Easter egg we should be on the hunt for.
Also, there is a mundanity to the titles of Degas’ works – iterations of “dancer”, “ballet class”, “dance class”, “ballet rehearsal”, and “ballet school” – that, in their ordinariness, actually suggest something interesting in what we are witnessing. No adjectives required (except the occasional color).
Why do Degas ballerina paintings feel so realistic?
Degas’ oil paintings in particular have such a photographic quality, creating an intimacy between viewer and painting that is not unlike the photographs we scroll through on Instagram these days.
These snapshots of dancers who are seemingly unaware that there is a camera (aka, painter) capturing their every movement give Degas’ pieces a sense of spontaneity and naturalness.
In fact, in some paintings the perspective is such that they look as if taken with a zoom lens.
And why do we dancers appreciate Degas ballerina paintings, especially the ones that take place in the studio?
Because we can relate to them.
We can relate to being in a studio on break, exhausted and at times with bodies slumped in a demonstration of defeat.
We can relate to having our legs casually propped up on the ballet barre, chatting (gossipping?) with our friends.
We can relate to those tiny moments that fill up our days, those moments when we are not dancing at all but rather adjusting our costume straps, tying our shoe ribbons, fixing our hair, securing our earrings, patting down our tutus…
In which museums can ballerina paintings and sculptures by Edgar Degas be found?
I, for one, was most excited when I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for the first time to see the oh-so-famous Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a piece which has seemingly come to symbolize what a ballerina of the late 19th century was; so much so that even the non-ballet aficionado most likely has heard about or laid eyes on it somewhere.
There have even been ballets, documentaries, musicals, and a historical fiction book about the inspiration behind Degas’ iconic, 99cm tall mixed-media ballerina sculpture.
So, being that I like to keep a look out for them when I go to museums, here’s a non-exhaustive list I’ve compiled of Degas’ artwork (that may or may not be on view at all times) at some museums around the world.
I hope you find this as a useful guide, and please leave a comment below of others that should be added!
I also just stumbled upon this this resin and bronze-casted replica of what is probably Degas' most recognized sculpture. It's quite darling and quite the nice size... I may just have to pick one up myself.
Art Institute of Chicago
(Chicago, Illinois – United States)
• Yellow Dancers (In the Wings) (1874–1876)
• On the Stage (1876-1877)
Chrysler Museum of Art
(Norfolk, Virginia – United States)
• Dancer with Bouquets (c. 1895-1900)
The Clark Museum
(Williamstown, Massachusetts – United States)
• Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1919-1921 cast)
The Cleveland Museum of Art
(Cleveland, OH – United States)
• Frieze of Dancers (c. 1895)
Denver Art Museum
(Denver, Colorado – United States)
• Dance Examination (1880)
Harvard Art Museums
(Cambridge, Massachusetts – United States)
The Harvard Art Musem also has sculptures including a 1880 cast of Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.
• The Rehearsal (c. 1873-1878)
Hill-Stead Museum
(Farmington, Connecticut – United States)
• Dancers in Pink (c. 1876)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(New York, NY – United States)
Not surprisingly, The Met galleries also house quite a large collection of Degas paintings and sketches currently on view such as:
• The Ballet from “Robert le Diable” (1871)
• The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage (c. 1874)
• The Rehearsal Onstage (c. 1874)
• The Dance Class (1874)
• Dancers Practicing at the Barre (1877)
• The Dance Lesson (c. 1879)
• Dancer (c. 1880)
• Dancer with a Fan (c. 1880)
• Dancer with a Fan (c. 1890-1895)
• Dancers, Pink and Green (c. 1890)
• The Dancers (c. 1900)
There is also a 1922 cast of The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer and its related sculptures of the work in study, as well as several others of dancers both in technical (lots of arabesques!) and relaxed – making dancewear adjustments or at rest – positions.
Musée d’Orsay
One of the best places to see an extensive collection of Degas is at the Orsay Museum at which you can find the following ballet paintings:
• The Dance Foyer at the Opera on the rue Le Peletier (1872)
• The Dance Class (1873-1876)
• Ballet Rehearsal (1874)
• Dancers Climbing a Staircase (1886-1890)
• Harlequin and Columbine (1886-1890)
• Blue Dancers (1890)
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
(Madrid – Spain)
• The Green Dancer (1877 – 1879)
The National Gallery
(London, England – United Kingdom)
• Ballet Dancers (c. 1899)
• Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer (cast after 1921)
National Gallery of Art
(Washington, D.C. – United States)
Aside from the aforementioned Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (c. 1878-1881) and other sculptures on view similar to those at The Met, the National Gallery of Art currently has the following Degas oil paintings on view:
• The Dance Lesson (1879)
• Four Dancers (c. 1899)
• Before the Ballet (1890/1892)
National Gallery of Ireland
(Dublin – Ireland)
• Two Ballet Dancers in a Dressing Room (c. 1880)9
Norton Simon Museum
(Pasadena, California – United States)
• Dancers in the Wings (c. 1876-1878)
• The Star: Dancer on Pointe (c. 1878-1880)
• Dancers in Pink (c. 1886)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – United States)
• The Ballet Class (1880)
• Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen (1922 cast)
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts
(Moscow – Russia)
In a gallery dedicated to Impressionism at The Pushkin Museum, one can find the following oil paintings on display:
• Ballet Rehearsal (c. 1875-1877)
• Ballerinas Behind the Scenes, also known as Blue Dancers (1897)
• Dancer Posing (1878)
Saint Louis Art Museum
(Saint Louis, MO – United States)
• Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (1920 cast)
Shelburne Museum
(Shelburne, Vermont – United States)
• Two Ballet Dancers (c.1879)
The State Hermitage Museum
(St. Petersburg – Russia)
• Dancer (c. 1874)
• Dancers’ Heads (second half of 1890s)
Yale University Art Gallery
(New Haven, Connecticut – United States)
• Dancers (c. 1878)
• The Ballet Rehearsal (c. 1891)
Featured Photo of The Green Dancer (1877-1879) at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain © The Ballet Herald.
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