The Rehearsal Room
Artist: Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
Date: about 1900
Dimensions:
H: 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm); W: 40 in. (101.6 cm)
framed: 19 1/4 x 40 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.
Medium: Pastel and charcoal on paper
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy
Object number: 1950.69
Label Text:Edgar Degas applies a vibrant energy to his pastel scenes of dancers anxiously waiting in the wings or endlessly practicing in the rehearsal room. Instead of focusing on the drama of performance or on the famous prima ballerinas that all Parisians knew, Degas preferred to depict the anonymous members of the corps de ballet who supported the leading roles. Away from the excitement of the crowd and the pressure of the recital, these young women’s fidgeting and primping seem far from glamorous. Typical of Degas’s late style, The Rehearsal Room was created using pastels and charcoal, with a considerable amount of smudging, wiping, and erasing. Degas captures the movement and contained energy of the dancers in the sketchy lines of the figures and the heavily textured walls and floor.
Particularly remarkable is the open space and blank wall on the left side, which seem to have been included to reinforce the viewer’s eye movement from left to right across the image. It also suggests the artist’s interest in Japanese woodblock prints, which often feature an asymmetrical composition and a high viewpoint along a diagonal.
Particularly remarkable is the open space and blank wall on the left side, which seem to have been included to reinforce the viewer’s eye movement from left to right across the image. It also suggests the artist’s interest in Japanese woodblock prints, which often feature an asymmetrical composition and a high viewpoint along a diagonal.
Not on view
In Collection(s)