Drapery Study for Semiramis by Edgar Degas.
Sometimes the studies artist's do (and often never intend to publish) are the most beautiful.
Little Dancer
Dressed Ballet Dancer, 1880/1881 by Edgar Degas, National Gallery, Washington.
Degas spent a great deal of time observing the world of the ballet. This statue represents the young girls in training, known as the "rats."
How Long?
Waiting (L'Attente) by Edgar Degas.
Degas' paintings of the life that goes on behind the scenes at the ballet are among his most beloved because they are real and show what went on, not just the finished product on the stage. We see the dancers trying to stay limber, the chaperones trying to stay awake, caught by an artist who managed to blend into the woodwork to bring us their world.
Alone on Stage
L'etoile [La danseuse sur la scene] (The Star [Dancer on Stage]) 1878, by Edgar Degas.
Degas did a large series of paintings and sculptures of ballet dancers, all levels of dancers and on the stage and behind the scenes. When I was a child, a print of this painting was in my bedroom. I remember the eyes freaked me out because they were all black.
...and carry a big stick.
Ballet Rehearsal 1874 by Edgar Degas. The Metropolitan Museum.
The teacher in these paintings was actually a dancer and friend of Degas and not the class teacher. His name was Jules Perrot.
Speak softly...
La classe de danse (The Dancing class), c.1873-75 by Edgar Degas, Museé d'Orsay, Paris.
Degas had access to all areas of the dancer's world and took advantage of this capturing them at rest, rehearsing, performing and dressing. They were a subject he returned to frequently over the years.
Setting the Scene
Dancers in the Wings by Edgar Degas, 1876-78, Pastel
Degas is well known for his superior ability to draw and to fade into the background so that he could capture a scene without influencing what was happening.