Description
Edgar Degas – Ballet Dancers in the Wings
| Year of creation: | 1900 |
| Original size: | 66 cm x 71 cm |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Original technique: | Pastel on paper |
| Located: | Art Museum, Saint Louis |
Degas’ paintings of ballet and ballerinas are among the greatest works of art of the century. The artist chose the study and illustration of movement as his mission, which is characteristically expressed in his paintings.
The four girls in the pastel painting Ballet Dancers in the Wings are shown away from the spotlight and completely exhausted. Pink, lemon yellow and brilliant blue and green shades give the composition energy. The colors are not realistic, but part of Degas’s imagination. The composition of the image is unusual, as the girls are placed in two obvious groups, making the descending diagonal of the image composition apparent, descending from the upper left to the lower right of the image.
