art-Degas.com
Edgar Degas 1834-1917
Edgar Degas - Dancers 1896
 Dancers |
From Cleveland Museum of Art:
Degas depicted the ballet in more than a thousand paintings, prints, pastels, and sculptures. Glamorous curtain-calls and artfully contrived arrangements were rejected in favor of private off-stage moments in which his dancers practiced, stretched, or sulked, unaware of the viewer's presence. Here, three dancers crowd together in the wings, waiting to go on stage. Layers of pastel vibrate with warm tones of yellow, orange, and pink, creating a rough surface typical of the artist's late pastels in which he completely resisted the emulation of smooth, porcelain skin.