European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection The Ballet Class c. 1880 Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French, 1834 - 1917 Oil on canvas Currently not on view W1937-2-1 Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, 1937 |
LabelIn this everyday scene from backstage at the Paris Opéra, a ballet instructor observes two young dancers while a mother sits reading in the foreground. Degas spent a great deal of time in the corridors and rehearsal rooms of the Opéra, where he would have seen mothers like this one managing their young daughters' careers. Girls began official ballet classes at age seven or eight in hopes of becoming premiere dancers by their late teens. |
