Edgar Degas

This, along with the next painting with the same title (in the Musée d'Orsay), are the 2 most elaborate ballet paintings that the artist created,

It portrays an imaginary scene, in the rehearsal room of the Paris Opera. It shows ballet students with their mothers, who are in the room on the occasion of the exam day.

A very similar version to the previous painting, the same perspective and situation. The only character who remains in the same position is the ballet teacher Jules Perrot, very famous in his time.

This is one of the designs from the series of women bathing in tubs and bathtubs. Part of the inspiration for these motifs was found in Japanese prints, of which Degas was an avid collector.

All of them have their faces hidden from the viewer. The facial expression in this case is dispensable, the artist seeks to concentrate attention on the activity, the anatomy, and the action of the characters.

This is one of the first works with the theme of dancers, a theme he would develop extensively throughout his career.

When the art critic Edmond de Goncourt visited Degas in his studio, he said of him: After great trials, experiments and test shots in all directions, he has fallen in love with modern life, and from all the themes of modern life, he has chosen women bathing and dancers."

There are three known versions of this same painting, two of them in the MET in New York and one, in black and white, in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

It depicts the general rehearsal with the excitement and all the elements that will be used in the final performance: scenery, costumes, hairstyles, and lighting. The play of light and shadows, a recurring element in his creations, is prominent.

While the original painting was in the possession of a personal friend of the painter, two years after gifting it, he asked for it back to make some changes. The result was a complete reorganization of the characters.

He removed 5 cm from the left and right, while adding a strip of canvas about 20 cm at the top, to work on what are now the girls on the stage.

What is interesting about this work is that it presents a proposal of contrasts on several levels, including style, as the dancers are painted in an impressionist manner and the musicians in a realist way. Other contrasts include light and shadow; innocence and maturity; grace and seriousness; feminine and masculine.

This genre painting was the first the artist managed to sell to a museum, marking a before and after in his career. From now on, he begins to strive for recognition and to live off the income generated by his works.

The scene is set in a real environment, specifically in the cotton business run by his uncle Michel Musson.

This is a multiple portrait featuring the bassoonist Désiré Dihau, a personal friend of the author.

At the top, like angels, one can see the sparkling and moving tutus; on the other hand, all the other members of the orchestra have a slightly pusillanimous expression and also all play the same type of instrument, all of which strongly exalts the central and protagonist figure of the work.

A double portrait with all the aesthetics of the era, it shows two characters looking like strangers, the woman with her gaze lost in nothingness and the man looking elsewhere. She has what is assumed to be a glass of absinthe in front of her, a drink that at the time had a terrible reputation, associated with leading people to psychosis.

One of the most likely interpretations is that the artist made a subtle criticism of absinthe consumption. The painting was created in the artist's studio, using models and artificially placing them in a real location he knew: La Nouvelle Athènes, Paris.

This is one of the artist's most recognizable works at first glance, widely used for printing decorative sheets.

The author makes use of a very marked impressionist stylistic, using thick patches of color to compose the graceful figures and light effects. The characters seem to be behind the curtain (which is seen on the right), preparing to go on stage.

For many critics, this is one of the painter's most beautiful works. It has been the subject of extensive analysis regarding the proportions and anatomical positions used.

A notable aspect is the natural journey the eye makes when observing the canvas, starting from the right and moving to the center, then to the left, but upon realizing that what the dancers are looking at does not appear in the painting, the eye returns to the center and exits to the right.