About this artwork
Degas excelled in depicting dancers in performance, rehearsal, waiting in the wings or, as here, at moments of ease. Characteristically, he chose an off-centre grouping with the dancers chatting in a corner of the rehearsal room. Part of a ballet skirt is reflected in the mirror behind. Degas often re-worked his designs and earlier pastels incorporate the same arrangement of figures. Here he worked with oil paint to establish the general outlines and reinforce certain details, blocked in colour with broad brush strokes and used his fingers, leaving fingerprints in the paint surface. He produced over 1500 images connected with the ballet.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917) French
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title:A Group of Dancers
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date created:About 1898
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materials:Oil on paper laid on canvas
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measurements:46.00 x 61.20 cm; Framed: 74.00 x 89.30 x 13.50 cm / 16.00 kg
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object type:
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credit line:Presented by Sir Alexander Maitland in memory of his wife Rosalind 1960
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accession number:NG 2225
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gallery:
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subject:
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Degas's celebrated paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture focus on aspects of Parisian modern life, including the racecourse and the ballet. His studies at the École des Beaux-Arts encouraged his interest in the human figure which remained central to his art. He travelled to Italy, where he had...