Description
The Ballet from Robert le Diable shows a theatre scene seen from a seat in the house: below, a dark row of the heads and backs of men in black coats with white collars, the neck of a double bass among them, above them the narrow bright line of the stage, and on the stage a dark arcade with pale white and bluish figures between its arches. Almost the whole canvas is dark; it is light only where the stage is. The original is an oil painting on canvas and is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York under the accession number 29.100.552. We make it as a hand-painted work, in sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 160 cm or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | The Ballet from Robert le Diable |
| Other titles: | Le ballet de Robert le Diable |
| Painter: | Edgar Degas (1834–1917) |
| Year of execution: | 1871 |
| Original size: | 66 cm x 54.3 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 29.100.552) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on linen canvas, 8 sizes from 30 x 40 cm to 120 x 160 cm, custom sizes on request |
The Ballet from Robert le Diable – Edgar Degas
Who is shown?
Two groups of people, divided by the line of the stage. Below are the audience and the orchestra: some ten men’s heads, seen from behind and from the side, in dark coats with white collars. One at the left is turned almost into profile and his face is lit; others are bald, one wears a hat. Between them rises the neck of a double bass. Above, on the stage, are pale figures in white and bluish tones moving between the arches; we do not see their faces, they are barely more than light strokes. Nobody is named.
What is on the canvas?
The scene is upright and largely dark. The lower half is almost black: heads, backs, the shadow of the house. The middle is cut by the narrow bright line of the stage lights. The upper half is the stage — a dark arcade with tall arches, a row of pale columns and lighter vaulted openings, and at the upper right a row of pale niches. Between the arcade white and pale blue figures spread out. The range of colour is modest: brown, black, dirty white, one single cold blue. At the lower right the work is signed.
Why does this particular scene matter?
Because it is not a scene of the ballet but a scene of watching the ballet. Degas set the view where he himself sat and removed nothing that gets in the way there: the heads in front of us cover the lower part of the stage, the neck of the double bass rises straight through the scene, the house is dark and the stage is far off. That is exactly what a performance looks like from a seat. The second thing is the arrangement of the light: the people who pay for the view sit in the dark, and the dancers are so far away that they lose their faces. The title says which opera is being played, which interests Degas less than the way we see it.
What does the scene mean?
Theatre as an experience rather than as an event. Impressionism for Degas never meant sunshine but a cutting caught as the eye really sees it, including when the view is obstructed. An impressionist painting of this kind is therefore closer to the memory of an evening than to a record of a performance. As wall art it is dark and asks for a pale wall or good light; the reward is a depth that appears only once the eye has adjusted. A canvas painting like this suits a quiet room with music very well.
The motif among Degas’s works
The Opéra was one great subject for Degas, seen from both sides of the footlights. The Orchestra at the Opera shows the same pit with its musicians close to, Orchestra Musicians puts their heads in front of the dancers on stage, and Ballet Rehearsal on Stage shows the same stage with no audience at all. How Degas saw a dancer from a box is shown by The Star at the Art Institute of Chicago, and how he saw the same stage over the heads of the orchestra by Ballet at the Paris Opéra in the same museum.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil colours, not a printer, and here the technique of the original is the same as ours: oil on canvas. Every one of our canvases is made layer after layer, and in this motif the dark is the hardest part. The dark half must not become one flat black area: heads, collars and the outlines of shoulders have to stay separate inside it, or the scene loses the house it is set in. That is reached with several thin dark layers rather than one thick one. We paint the figures on stage with a thin, quick stroke, because they must stay indefinite — give them faces and the scene stops being a view from a distance. Every reproduction is made afresh and no two copies are ever quite the same, because the hand does not repeat the same stroke twice; every hand-painted copy is therefore its own. For this work we have no photographs of our finished canvases, so we show and describe none here. The photograph of your canvas reaches you before dispatch.
Which size for which wall?
If you do not know which: 60 x 80 cm. The original measures 66 x 54.3 cm; our 50 x 70 cm size comes nearest to it in size, while in proportion the nearest is 40 x 50 cm, because our sizes run a little narrower than the original. The 30 x 40 and 40 x 50 cm sizes are for a smaller room or a hallway, where the heads at the bottom already merge into one. The 50 x 70 and 60 x 80 cm sizes are the most frequent choice above a chest of drawers or beside a music corner. The 70 x 90 cm size is for a living room, where enough light is needed for the dark half to open up. The 80 x 110 and 100 x 130 cm sizes are for a larger wall, and at 120 x 160 cm we are at the sizes where a large painting really breathes and the heads of the audience stand at life size. Measure your chosen size on the wall with a paper cut-out first; with an upright format the mistake is usually made in the height. None of the sizes is held in stock as a finished item: every copy is made to order and stays a single piece.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits you, or if you want the original’s proportion, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the scene, so that the line of the stage stays at the same height and the neck of the double bass does not fall off the edge; that is our painting made to order. Every copy is delivered stretched on a wooden bar, ready to hang. For the frame, use our 3D application: on this motif it shows every moulding profile we carry, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood – it is for choosing a frame and nothing else. If you want to see how the work looks on your own wall, that is our separate room-placement service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every copy is made to order in our studio, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose; for the largest sizes the time is usually at the upper end. We send it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, to sixteen countries in the European Union, without customs duties. You receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch, and our returns policy applies to every order. The whole range is in the Edgar Degas gallery, and the painter’s life is described in our article about Edgar Degas.
Frequently asked questions
What is happening in the scene?
The performance is under way. Below, the audience and the musicians are watching; above, pale figures move between the arches on the stage.
Why are the heads at the front so large?
Because we see the scene from one of the seats. The people in front of us block the lower part of the stage, exactly as they do in reality.
What is the pale object in the middle?
The neck and head of a double bass, rising out of the orchestra pit and cutting the scene through the middle.
Who are the figures on the stage?
Dancers in white and pale blue, seen from a distance. They have no faces — Degas painted them with quick strokes.
Where is the original located?
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, under the accession number 29.100.552.
How large is the original?
66 by 54.3 cm, so fairly small. Our 50 x 70 cm size comes nearest to it in size.
Are your sizes in the same proportion as the original?
Not quite – ours run a little narrower. In proportion the nearest is 40 x 50 cm; if you want the original’s proportion, we paint it to your measurements.
Is this a print?
No. The work is painted by hand in oil colours; the brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Is the work very dark?
It is. The lower half is almost black and opens up only in enough light; it works best on a pale wall or with a directed lamp.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes, we paint to measure and keep the proportions of the scene while doing it.
Is it suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for someone who goes to the opera or the theatre. Because every copy is made to order, allow for the making time; if you would rather leave the choice to them, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: a dark house with the heads of the audience and the neck of a double bass below, and above them the lit stage with its arcade and pale figures
- Original: Edgar Degas, an oil painting on canvas, 66 x 54.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (29.100.552)
- Ours: hand-painted in oil, eight sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 160 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: this is not a scene of the ballet but of watching it – the people who pay for the view sit in the dark, and the dancers are too far off to have faces
