The Dance Class (Degas, Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Summary

The Dance Class is an 1874 oil painting on canvas by the French artist Edgar Degas.[1] It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.[2]

The Dance Class
ArtistEdgar Degas
Year1874
TypeOil paint on canvas
Dimensions83.5 by 77.2 centimetres (32.9 in × 30.4 in)
LocationMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Accession1987.47.1

The painting and its companion work in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, are amongst the most ambitious works by Degas on the theme of ballet. The imaginary scene depicts a dance class being held under the supervision of Jules Perrot, a famous ballet master, in the old Paris Opera, which had actually burnt down the previous year. The poster on the wall for Rossini's Guillaume Tell is a tribute to the operatic singer Jean-Baptiste Faure, who had commissioned the work.[2]

The painting is on view in the Metropolitan Museum's Gallery 815 as of December 2023.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Alastair Macaulay (September 2, 2008). "Degas's Ballet Students Teach the Lessons of Their Art". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "The Collection Online - The Dance Class - Edgar Degas". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

External links edit

  • Impressionism: a Centenary Exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 1974 – February 10, 1975, fully digitized text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries