third french republicconcept:era modern
The Dance Class
Oil on canvas (1874) by Edgar Degas, depicting a ballet rehearsal at the Paris Opéra under the direction of ballet master Jules Perrot. One of Degas's most celebrated works, combining Impressionist spontaneity with rigorous compositional structure.
Scholarly Significance
Degas's Dance Class is the canonical image of Impressionism's engagement with modernity, movement, and the working conditions of Paris Opera ballet dancers.
Notes
- ·Edgar Degas produced many versions and studies of ballet rehearsal scenes throughout his career; this 1874 canvas is the most celebrated.
- ·The central figure is Jules Perrot (1810–1892), the legendary ballet master and choreographer, posed with his stick.
- ·Degas's ballet scenes are not celebrations of glamour but investigations of labour — the exhausting, repetitive work of professional dancers from working-class backgrounds.
- ·Exhibited at the second Impressionist exhibition (1876) — there is debate about whether this specific version was shown.
- ·Degas employed an asymmetric, off-centre composition influenced by Japanese woodblock prints and early photography.
- ·Acquired for the Camondo Collection and bequeathed to the Louvre in 1911; now at Musée d'Orsay.