The Rehearsal Room

Artist Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

Dateabout 1900

DimensionsH: 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.

MediumPastel and charcoal on paper

ClassificationDrawings

Credit LineGift of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy

Object number

1950.69

Not on View

Label TextEdgar 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.Published ReferencesLemoisne, P. A., Degas et son oeuvre, Paris, 1946, III, no. 997, repr. p. 579.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 52-53, pl. 243.

Hüttinger, Edward, Degas, New York, 1987, repr. p. 91 (col.).

DeVonyar, Jill; Kendall, Douglas; Dumas, Ann Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement Royal Academy of Arts Enterprises, 2011, pp. 111, 124-125, repr. (col.) pp. 122-123, no. 46.

Munro, Jane, Degas: A Passion for Perfection,New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 2017, p. 176, repr. (col.) fig. 196.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Collection of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy, November 1964, p. 14, repr. p. 15.

Washington, National Gallery of Art, Degas: the Dancers, 1984, no. 43, 98, 99, 142, repr. p. 100.

Toledo Museum of Art, Strong Sensations: Impressionism and Symbolist Works on Paper, 1860-1900, April 23-June 20, 2010 (no cat.).

London, Royal Academy of Arts, Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement, September 17 – December 18, 2011, no. 46, p. 124-25, repr. (col.) p. 122-123

Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Degas' Method, Jun. 7-Sept. 1, 2013, no. 147, repr. (col.) p. 310.

Toledo Museum of Art, Degas and the Dance, October 15, 2015-January 10, 2016.

Denver, Denver Art Museum, Degas: A Passion for Perfection, February 11, 2018-May 20, 2018.