Edgar Degas shows a great job of creating unbelievably realistic movements in his paintings. The artist was influenced by beautiful and famous at that time kind of dance, ballet. That effect brought success to the artist. Also, it became a verge between two movements of art, impressionism and realism. Edgar Degas shares his inspiration by beautiful dance movements from ballet with his viewers through the canvases. And in each line from Edgar Degas’ brush the viewer can see dance extension. In those conditions Edgar Degas created a great painting among his collection, The Dance Class.
The painting The Dance Class by Edgar Degas is a great example of a new movement of art from 19th century which is called impressionism. As a rule, at that time period artists painted scenes from history and myth. However, Edgar Degas decided to pay his attention on something more realistic, which relates to daily life. He found his new theme of painting in ballet and created approximately 1,500 works with scenes from ballet classes of something that relates to it. The Dance Class was created in 1874 in Paris. An art collector Jean-Baptiste Faure ordered that painting from Edgar Degas. It was bestowed upon the Metropolitan in 1986 by Mrs. Harry Bingham. Edgar Degas established unusual technique of painting human body which was, in his point of view, a demonstration of a realism. Despite the fact that the artist related himself to the realist movement, the history of art defined this masterpiece as an incredible illustration of impressionism. The painter was influenced by ballet and motion beauty which initiated the whole collection of painting on the same theme but with different scenes and foreshortening. On the particular painting “The Dance Class” artist represents artistry shifts in young ballerinas’ movements which make the viewer almost hear the rustling of dresses. Intriguing setting of figures, brights accents throughout the whole scene and tiny indescribable details absorb the viewers’ attention and move the sights in intricate direction of the scene.
A special style of Degas was the “cut-off” technique which was one of manifestation of Japonism influence on European Impressionism. Alternately to place the whole figure on his canvases, he cut some parts of his figures. This distinctive feature in the master’s works have been repeatedly raised in public discussions, however these details bring a certain energy to Degas’ paintings from which you begin to believe in the paintings even more. For example, on the right verge of the painting the viewer can see only a small element of point shoe and a snip of tutu. In other words, we can see it, we can imagine what is going on behind the picture frame because we are already a part of it. Nobody pays attention to the viewer, everyone is so busy. They exist in their own world, twenty-four women and a ballet master. Somebody is performing, others are watching the performance or getting ready for their turn. They are all expecting the viewer to be aware what is going on in their world and to watch the performance with them.
On this painting Edgar Degas shows just a corner of a large dance hall. With this manner Degas makes the viewer like a spy who pry into the keyhole and try to guess what is going on beyond the boundaries of the horizons. After observing the main characters of the painting, the view gradually moves to the background, elegantly constructed ballet studio. The scene of painting takes place in the room of the old Paris Opéra. There is a poster on the wall for Rossini’s Guillaume Tell. There is a wooden music stand with sheet music on the left side of the painting. Underneath the stand, a double bass is presented on the floor. Corresponding details make the viewer believe the painting, experiencing it as it is a real situation from life. Moreover, it is highly likely, in order to tease the viewer’s curiosity and give a hint, the artist depicts the mirror on the wall, which gives a sense of absolute presence and participation in the action within the scene. Moreover, in the mirror the viewer can see a part of the window which is on the right side from the viewer. This detail in the painting makes the whole painting more realistic and bring a feeling of reality and verity in it. The painting definitely reminds viewers of a scene from daily life, which engages us to join the painted environment and its realism. With such details, Edgar Degas easily tears out the viewer from the Metropolitan museum and transfers to the ballet studio in Paris.
Degas did an exceptional figure-balance due to which the viewer unwittingly pays attention to the main figure in the painting, a man in the right middle side of the room. This man is Jules Perrot, a ballet master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. Some of the most well-known ballets of the 19th century was established by him. Edgar Degas had a superb talent that gave him the opportunity to pile up a huge stream of grace of a ballet dancer from past years in the figure of an old man who is holding a walking stick. Later the viewer’s sight rests on a few dancers who are waiting to be assessed by the ballet master. Degas’ magic of making such lines in each figure gives to the viewer an opportunity to understand each movement without any words, to figure out every gesture without any clues. For example, the viewer can easily guess the feeling of the girl who standing on the left side of the painting and nervously biting her nails. Such gesture sends a feeling of worry of the girl who is waiting for her valuation. In the same way, the viewer can easily understand feelings of the each character on the painting. The viewer doesn’t look at Degas’ lines, the viewer feels them. Thus the worry of girls about further performance becomes obvious, and the viewer is experiencing it along with them.
The vast paintings in every corner of the compositions flaunts light paint touches of master’s hand. These brushstrokes vary from luminous spots to bright color accents. Walls are presented in a dirty green color which is really good combined with white tutus and saturated red details. In order to create a more gentle fusion of colors without a sharp contrast transition, artist used a technique in which a new color applied to a fresh wet color on the painting. This way of putting paint on a canvas is considered to be an outstanding feature of impressionism. On the other hand, Edgar Degas created a true picture of the scene from the ballet class which even somehow reminds a photo. Moreover, adherents of impressionism movement avoid black color, they usually mix a few paints to create a dark tint. As we can see, Edgar Degas confidently used the black color to append to his heroines and surroundings some contrasting details. According to these facts, his consideration himself as a realism painter is a fair inference.
In the end, Edgar Degas created an incredible painting in which the viewer can feel the life. Different techniques that Degas used in his painting make it more interesting and even spellbinding. The bold choice of bright colors and light pastels play a game with the viewer’s imagination and everyone can see something special. The most important thing is that the viewer might like or not the painting. However, nobody remains indifferent to alive paintings of Edgar Degas.
Bibliography
"The Dance Class by Edgar Degas – Facts & History of the Painting." Totally History The Dance Class Comments. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://totallyhistory.com/the-dance-class/.
"The Dance Class | 1987.47.1 | Work of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1987.47.1/
"Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art H
istory | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm.
"Edgar Degas Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-degas-edgar.htm.
"Edgar Degas | The Dance Class | The Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I.e. The Met Museum. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438817.
Guest, Ivor. "Jules Perrot." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jules-Perrot.
"Japonisme | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm.
The painting The Dance Class by Edgar Degas is a great example of a new movement of art from 19th century which is called impressionism. As a rule, at that time period artists painted scenes from history and myth. However, Edgar Degas decided to pay his attention on something more realistic, which relates to daily life. He found his new theme of painting in ballet and created approximately 1,500 works with scenes from ballet classes of something that relates to it. The Dance Class was created in 1874 in Paris. An art collector Jean-Baptiste Faure ordered that painting from Edgar Degas. It was bestowed upon the Metropolitan in 1986 by Mrs. Harry Bingham. Edgar Degas established unusual technique of painting human body which was, in his point of view, a demonstration of a realism. Despite the fact that the artist related himself to the realist movement, the history of art defined this masterpiece as an incredible illustration of impressionism. The painter was influenced by ballet and motion beauty which initiated the whole collection of painting on the same theme but with different scenes and foreshortening. On the particular painting “The Dance Class” artist represents artistry shifts in young ballerinas’ movements which make the viewer almost hear the rustling of dresses. Intriguing setting of figures, brights accents throughout the whole scene and tiny indescribable details absorb the viewers’ attention and move the sights in intricate direction of the scene.
A special style of Degas was the “cut-off” technique which was one of manifestation of Japonism influence on European Impressionism. Alternately to place the whole figure on his canvases, he cut some parts of his figures. This distinctive feature in the master’s works have been repeatedly raised in public discussions, however these details bring a certain energy to Degas’ paintings from which you begin to believe in the paintings even more. For example, on the right verge of the painting the viewer can see only a small element of point shoe and a snip of tutu. In other words, we can see it, we can imagine what is going on behind the picture frame because we are already a part of it. Nobody pays attention to the viewer, everyone is so busy. They exist in their own world, twenty-four women and a ballet master. Somebody is performing, others are watching the performance or getting ready for their turn. They are all expecting the viewer to be aware what is going on in their world and to watch the performance with them.
On this painting Edgar Degas shows just a corner of a large dance hall. With this manner Degas makes the viewer like a spy who pry into the keyhole and try to guess what is going on beyond the boundaries of the horizons. After observing the main characters of the painting, the view gradually moves to the background, elegantly constructed ballet studio. The scene of painting takes place in the room of the old Paris Opéra. There is a poster on the wall for Rossini’s Guillaume Tell. There is a wooden music stand with sheet music on the left side of the painting. Underneath the stand, a double bass is presented on the floor. Corresponding details make the viewer believe the painting, experiencing it as it is a real situation from life. Moreover, it is highly likely, in order to tease the viewer’s curiosity and give a hint, the artist depicts the mirror on the wall, which gives a sense of absolute presence and participation in the action within the scene. Moreover, in the mirror the viewer can see a part of the window which is on the right side from the viewer. This detail in the painting makes the whole painting more realistic and bring a feeling of reality and verity in it. The painting definitely reminds viewers of a scene from daily life, which engages us to join the painted environment and its realism. With such details, Edgar Degas easily tears out the viewer from the Metropolitan museum and transfers to the ballet studio in Paris.
Degas did an exceptional figure-balance due to which the viewer unwittingly pays attention to the main figure in the painting, a man in the right middle side of the room. This man is Jules Perrot, a ballet master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. Some of the most well-known ballets of the 19th century was established by him. Edgar Degas had a superb talent that gave him the opportunity to pile up a huge stream of grace of a ballet dancer from past years in the figure of an old man who is holding a walking stick. Later the viewer’s sight rests on a few dancers who are waiting to be assessed by the ballet master. Degas’ magic of making such lines in each figure gives to the viewer an opportunity to understand each movement without any words, to figure out every gesture without any clues. For example, the viewer can easily guess the feeling of the girl who standing on the left side of the painting and nervously biting her nails. Such gesture sends a feeling of worry of the girl who is waiting for her valuation. In the same way, the viewer can easily understand feelings of the each character on the painting. The viewer doesn’t look at Degas’ lines, the viewer feels them. Thus the worry of girls about further performance becomes obvious, and the viewer is experiencing it along with them.
The vast paintings in every corner of the compositions flaunts light paint touches of master’s hand. These brushstrokes vary from luminous spots to bright color accents. Walls are presented in a dirty green color which is really good combined with white tutus and saturated red details. In order to create a more gentle fusion of colors without a sharp contrast transition, artist used a technique in which a new color applied to a fresh wet color on the painting. This way of putting paint on a canvas is considered to be an outstanding feature of impressionism. On the other hand, Edgar Degas created a true picture of the scene from the ballet class which even somehow reminds a photo. Moreover, adherents of impressionism movement avoid black color, they usually mix a few paints to create a dark tint. As we can see, Edgar Degas confidently used the black color to append to his heroines and surroundings some contrasting details. According to these facts, his consideration himself as a realism painter is a fair inference.
In the end, Edgar Degas created an incredible painting in which the viewer can feel the life. Different techniques that Degas used in his painting make it more interesting and even spellbinding. The bold choice of bright colors and light pastels play a game with the viewer’s imagination and everyone can see something special. The most important thing is that the viewer might like or not the painting. However, nobody remains indifferent to alive paintings of Edgar Degas.
Bibliography
"The Dance Class by Edgar Degas – Facts & History of the Painting." Totally History The Dance Class Comments. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://totallyhistory.com/the-dance-class/.
"The Dance Class | 1987.47.1 | Work of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1987.47.1/
"Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art H
istory | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm.
"Edgar Degas Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-degas-edgar.htm.
"Edgar Degas | The Dance Class | The Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I.e. The Met Museum. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438817.
Guest, Ivor. "Jules Perrot." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jules-Perrot.
"Japonisme | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm.