Edgar DEGAS (1834-1917)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Art on paper French sculpture Sculpture by painters Children Music and dance
Chronology : 1870-1879 1877 1879 1880 1885 1900 1920-1929 1927
See also : Art on paper French sculpture Sculpture by painters Children Music and dance
Chronology : 1870-1879 1877 1879 1880 1885 1900 1920-1929 1927
Intro
Degas assiduously frequents the Opéra de Paris inaugurated in 1875, and also the dance schools that educate and select adolescent girls. He is an artist. His interest is not in the theater but for the interpretation of the closed world of the teenagers in their dressing room and backstage.
The girls came for working. Before going on stage, they are waiting by lacing their shoes with manic gestures. When the show is over, they seek the suitable pose for relieving their physical exhaustion. In both moments, their slender and flexible bodies take a lanky attitude inconceivable for a fully grown woman.
The pastel enables a color harmony of the flesh, of the tutu and of the huge bow tied behind her belt in the stereotypical dancing fashion of that time.
The girls came for working. Before going on stage, they are waiting by lacing their shoes with manic gestures. When the show is over, they seek the suitable pose for relieving their physical exhaustion. In both moments, their slender and flexible bodies take a lanky attitude inconceivable for a fully grown woman.
The pastel enables a color harmony of the flesh, of the tutu and of the huge bow tied behind her belt in the stereotypical dancing fashion of that time.
Informal Psychiatric Evaluation of Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
Disclaimer: This is not a formal clinical diagnosis but a retrospective, speculative analysis based on biographical accounts, contemporaries' descriptions, and interpretations of his artwork. Psychiatric evaluations of historical figures are inherently limited by incomplete records and cultural differences in understanding mental health.
Background and Life Overview
Edgar Degas, a French Impressionist known for his depictions of ballet dancers, bathers, and urban life, came from a wealthy banking family. He never married, had no known romantic relationships, and lived a reclusive life, especially in later years. He deliberately cultivated an image of aloofness, stating that an artist should live alone with an unknown private life. His personality was described as argumentative, witty yet cruel, irritable, and misanthropic—often called an "old curmudgeon." He experienced progressive vision loss (likely a hereditary retinal degeneration, such as macular degeneration), starting in his 30s, leading to near-blindness by his final years. This physical decline coincided with increased isolation, wandering the streets aimlessly, and bouts of depression.
Politically conservative, Degas exhibited pronounced antisemitism, particularly during the Dreyfus Affair (1894–1906), where he broke ties with Jewish friends and expressed bigoted views. This has been interpreted by some historians as stemming from "status anxiety" in a changing France.
Key Themes in His Art Relevant to Psychological Interpretation
Degas's works often portray women (dancers and bathers) in private, unguarded moments—rehearsing, bathing, or resting—viewed from unusual angles (e.g., from above, backstage, or cropped asymmetrically). This creates a sense of voyeurism: the viewer (and implicitly the artist) observes without being observed.
His portraits emphasize psychological complexity and human isolation, with subjects often appearing detached or alienated.
Later works became bolder, more abstract, and expressive, influenced by failing eyesight, shifting from detailed realism to broader strokes and vibrant pastels.
Speculative Psychological Profile
Summary Assessment
Degas likely experienced chronic depression, social detachment, and anxiety related to his deteriorating vision. His art served as an outlet for observing human (especially female) forms from a safe, controlled distance, possibly compensating for interpersonal difficulties. Despite challenges, he remained highly productive, demonstrating resilience. His work's enduring psychological depth—capturing isolation, movement, and vulnerability—mirrors aspects of his own life.
Disclaimer: This is not a formal clinical diagnosis but a retrospective, speculative analysis based on biographical accounts, contemporaries' descriptions, and interpretations of his artwork. Psychiatric evaluations of historical figures are inherently limited by incomplete records and cultural differences in understanding mental health.
Background and Life Overview
Edgar Degas, a French Impressionist known for his depictions of ballet dancers, bathers, and urban life, came from a wealthy banking family. He never married, had no known romantic relationships, and lived a reclusive life, especially in later years. He deliberately cultivated an image of aloofness, stating that an artist should live alone with an unknown private life. His personality was described as argumentative, witty yet cruel, irritable, and misanthropic—often called an "old curmudgeon." He experienced progressive vision loss (likely a hereditary retinal degeneration, such as macular degeneration), starting in his 30s, leading to near-blindness by his final years. This physical decline coincided with increased isolation, wandering the streets aimlessly, and bouts of depression.
Politically conservative, Degas exhibited pronounced antisemitism, particularly during the Dreyfus Affair (1894–1906), where he broke ties with Jewish friends and expressed bigoted views. This has been interpreted by some historians as stemming from "status anxiety" in a changing France.
Key Themes in His Art Relevant to Psychological Interpretation
Degas's works often portray women (dancers and bathers) in private, unguarded moments—rehearsing, bathing, or resting—viewed from unusual angles (e.g., from above, backstage, or cropped asymmetrically). This creates a sense of voyeurism: the viewer (and implicitly the artist) observes without being observed.
His portraits emphasize psychological complexity and human isolation, with subjects often appearing detached or alienated.
Later works became bolder, more abstract, and expressive, influenced by failing eyesight, shifting from detailed realism to broader strokes and vibrant pastels.
Speculative Psychological Profile
- Personality Traits: Evidence suggests traits consistent with schizoid or avoidant personality patterns—preference for solitude, emotional detachment, limited close relationships, and devotion to solitary pursuits (art). His misanthropy and biting humor may indicate defensive mechanisms against vulnerability. Some accounts note possible misogynistic views (e.g., referring to women harshly), potentially tied to celibacy and objectification in his art.
- Mood and Affect: Recurrent bouts of depression, especially in midlife and later years, linked to creative blocks ("I'm blocked, impotent"), family financial issues, and vision loss. He described feelings of aimlessness and torment from his eyesight. Late-life reclusiveness and moroseness align with major depressive episodes exacerbated by disability.
- Voyeuristic Elements in Art: Frequent interpretations highlight scopophilic (pleasure in looking) tendencies, with women depicted as unaware objects of gaze. This could reflect detached observation as a way to engage with intimacy without emotional risk, possibly tied to social avoidance or repressed desires. Degas himself hinted at this "keyhole" perspective.
- Impact of Vision Loss: Progressive blindness caused anxiety, photophobia, and adaptation challenges, contributing to depression and isolation. It forced stylistic innovation but also frustration, as he turned to sculpture (tactile medium) in later years.
- Other Considerations: Antisemitism and conservatism may reflect rigid thinking or prejudice common in his era/class, amplified by personal insecurities. No evidence of mania, psychosis, or substance abuse.
Summary Assessment
Degas likely experienced chronic depression, social detachment, and anxiety related to his deteriorating vision. His art served as an outlet for observing human (especially female) forms from a safe, controlled distance, possibly compensating for interpersonal difficulties. Despite challenges, he remained highly productive, demonstrating resilience. His work's enduring psychological depth—capturing isolation, movement, and vulnerability—mirrors aspects of his own life.
Japonisme in Edgar Degas's Art and His Japanese Print Collection
Edgar Degas (1834–1917), a key Impressionist (though he preferred "independent" or "realist"), was one of the earliest and most avid French collectors of Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e woodblock prints. His engagement with Japonisme—the craze for Japanese aesthetics after Japan's 1850s reopening to the West—began in the 1860s. He acquired prints from small Paris shops like La Porte Chinoise (a hub for artists including Manet, Whistler, and Tissot) and built a significant personal collection through dealers and friends.
Details on Degas's Japanese Print Collection
Degas started collecting ukiyo-e in the 1860s, amassing a substantial holding over decades. When his estate was sold after his death in 1918, the auction included over 100 Japanese woodcuts and albums by major masters:
Scholars (e.g., in the book Degas and the Art of Japan by Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall) highlight how Degas accessed rare prints via Paris collectors/dealers, and how parallels in themes—women's daily rituals, performers, intimate/private life—echoed ukiyo-e's "floating world" of transient pleasures.
Japonisme Influence on Degas's Art
Degas never visited Japan and incorporated no direct Japanese motifs or costumes, but ukiyo-e profoundly shaped his style, especially his innovative compositions, perspectives, and focus on modern Parisian life (ballet dancers, bathers, laundresses, café-concert performers). Key elements adopted:
This cross-cultural influence, shared with peers like Cassatt (who produced Japonisme-inspired prints), underscores Degas's role in fusing Eastern aesthetics with Western modernity.
Edgar Degas (1834–1917), a key Impressionist (though he preferred "independent" or "realist"), was one of the earliest and most avid French collectors of Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e woodblock prints. His engagement with Japonisme—the craze for Japanese aesthetics after Japan's 1850s reopening to the West—began in the 1860s. He acquired prints from small Paris shops like La Porte Chinoise (a hub for artists including Manet, Whistler, and Tissot) and built a significant personal collection through dealers and friends.
Details on Degas's Japanese Print Collection
Degas started collecting ukiyo-e in the 1860s, amassing a substantial holding over decades. When his estate was sold after his death in 1918, the auction included over 100 Japanese woodcuts and albums by major masters:
- Kitagawa Utamaro (bijin-ga beauties and intimate female scenes)
- Katsushika Hokusai (dynamic landscapes, figures, and Manga sketches)
- Utagawa Hiroshige (atmospheric views and series)
- Torii Kiyonaga, Utagawa Toyokuni, and others
Scholars (e.g., in the book Degas and the Art of Japan by Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall) highlight how Degas accessed rare prints via Paris collectors/dealers, and how parallels in themes—women's daily rituals, performers, intimate/private life—echoed ukiyo-e's "floating world" of transient pleasures.
Japonisme Influence on Degas's Art
Degas never visited Japan and incorporated no direct Japanese motifs or costumes, but ukiyo-e profoundly shaped his style, especially his innovative compositions, perspectives, and focus on modern Parisian life (ballet dancers, bathers, laundresses, café-concert performers). Key elements adopted:
- Asymmetrical compositions and radical cropping — Abrupt framing, off-center figures, and "snapshot" views create immediacy and movement, as in ukiyo-e's unconventional perspectives.
- Unusual vantage points — High, low, or diagonal angles (aerial views, through barriers) mimic Japanese prints' dynamic framing.
- Flat color areas and bold outlines — Reduced modeling, emphasis on line and pattern over chiaroscuro, creating decorative, graphic effects.
- Focus on women in everyday/intimate moments — Parallels ukiyo-e's bijin-ga (beautiful women) and domestic scenes—Degas's bathers, dancers in rehearsal, or women at toilette capture candid, unposed life.
- Elongated formats and barriers — Vertical/diagonal divisions (e.g., columns, railings) separate space, echoing Japanese print divisions.
- Mary Cassatt in the Paintings Gallery at the Louvre (1879–1880, etching) — Elongated vertical format (like chu-tanzaku prints), asymmetrical framing, flat areas, and figures divided by barriers—direct homage to ukiyo-e graphic style.
- The Dance Class (1874) and Dancers Practicing at the Barre (1877) — Cropped views, off-center figures, diagonal lines, and barriers (staircases, instruments) create a sense of glimpsed movement, akin to ukiyo-e's snapshot quality.
- The Tub (1886, pastel) — Intimate bather scene with unusual angle, flat colors, and cropped composition—often compared to Japanese prints of women bathing or at toilette (e.g., Utamaro influences).
- Woman Drying Herself (c. 1882–1885) — Voyeuristic angle, cropped form, and emphasis on private ritual mirror ukiyo-e's intimate female depictions.
This cross-cultural influence, shared with peers like Cassatt (who produced Japonisme-inspired prints), underscores Degas's role in fusing Eastern aesthetics with Western modernity.
Special Report
Ballet and Opéra
Edgar Degas’s ballet themes form one of the most extensive and iconic bodies of work in his oeuvre. Roughly half of his approximately 1,500 works on dancers—paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, and sculpture—focus on the Paris Opéra Ballet, spanning from the late 1860s until the early 20th century. Unlike his contemporaries who often idealized performers, Degas portrayed ballet as a demanding profession: young women (many from modest or working-class backgrounds) engaged in rigorous training, rehearsal, and performance.
Degas famously remarked to dealer Ambroise Vollard: “People call me the painter of dancing girls. It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.” His fascination lay in anatomy, motion, light on fabric, and the contrast between onstage illusion and backstage reality.
Historical and Social Context
In 19th-century Paris, the Opéra Ballet occupied a complex position. Young dancers, often called petits rats (“little rats”), typically began training around age six or seven. They came from lower-income families and endured long hours of physical labor—rehearsing six days a week in demanding conditions. Many supplemented meager salaries through relationships with wealthy male abonnés (subscribers), who enjoyed privileged backstage access, including the foyer de la danse. This created an environment where glamour coexisted with exploitation, poverty, and occasional prostitution. Degas’s works subtly reflect these realities: dancers appear tired, adjusting costumes, yawning, or stretching, rather than eternally graceful.
Degas gained access through influential friends and later as an abonné himself, sketching from observation in rehearsal rooms, wings, and classes (often at the old Opéra on rue Le Peletier, which burned in 1873). He frequently constructed compositions in the studio from drawings, memory, and imagination, rather than direct plein-air transcription.
Key Masterpieces and Themes
Degas explored several recurring motifs:
Technique and Influences
Degas was a masterful draftsman who prioritized line, contour, and volume over pure Impressionist color vibration. He employed:
Social/Behavioral and Feminist Readings
Degas’s ballet works function as naturalistic observations of modern urban labor. They expose the commodification of young female bodies: athletic yet vulnerable, trained for both art and potential patronage. Mothers often appear as chaperones (or facilitators) of social advancement. To 19th-century viewers familiar with the Opéra’s subculture, shadowy male figures or the dancers’ weary postures hinted at exploitation.
Feminist interpretations highlight the male gaze: Degas, as a privileged male observer, records these women with detachment—sometimes clinical or voyeuristic. Yet his works also dignify their professionalism and physical effort, avoiding sentimental idealization. Modern readings see them as documents of class and gender dynamics: poor girls navigating a system where talent, endurance, and availability determined survival. The petits rats were disposable; many left the ballet young, their bodies “unsuitable” after puberty.
Compared to Renoir’s warm, democratic leisure scenes (Le Déjeuner des canotiers), Degas’s ballet themes feel cooler and more analytical—revealing the performative artifice and social tensions of modern life. Where Renoir invites communal joy, Degas dissects the labor behind spectacle.
Legacy
Degas transformed ballet from decorative spectacle into a profound modern subject. His dancers remain among the most beloved images in Western art, yet they carry an edge of realism that continues to provoke discussion about beauty, work, exploitation, and the gaze. No artist before or since has explored the theme with such depth, technical innovation, and psychological insight.
His ballet works bridge realism and modernism: rooted in observation of contemporary Paris, yet formally radical. They invite viewers to look beyond the tutu—to the sweat, discipline, and human cost of fleeting grace. In doing so, Degas elevated the “painter of dancing girls” into one of the sharpest chroniclers of 19th-century modernity.
Degas famously remarked to dealer Ambroise Vollard: “People call me the painter of dancing girls. It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.” His fascination lay in anatomy, motion, light on fabric, and the contrast between onstage illusion and backstage reality.
Historical and Social Context
In 19th-century Paris, the Opéra Ballet occupied a complex position. Young dancers, often called petits rats (“little rats”), typically began training around age six or seven. They came from lower-income families and endured long hours of physical labor—rehearsing six days a week in demanding conditions. Many supplemented meager salaries through relationships with wealthy male abonnés (subscribers), who enjoyed privileged backstage access, including the foyer de la danse. This created an environment where glamour coexisted with exploitation, poverty, and occasional prostitution. Degas’s works subtly reflect these realities: dancers appear tired, adjusting costumes, yawning, or stretching, rather than eternally graceful.
Degas gained access through influential friends and later as an abonné himself, sketching from observation in rehearsal rooms, wings, and classes (often at the old Opéra on rue Le Peletier, which burned in 1873). He frequently constructed compositions in the studio from drawings, memory, and imagination, rather than direct plein-air transcription.
Key Masterpieces and Themes
Degas explored several recurring motifs:
- Rehearsal and Class Scenes: These dominate his early ballet works, showing disciplined yet unglamorous labor.
The supreme example is The Dance Class (1874, oil on canvas, 83.5 × 77.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). This ambitious, imaginary scene depicts about two dozen ballerinas and their mothers in a sunlit rehearsal room of the old Paris Opéra. A young dancer holds an “attitude” pose for examination by the renowned ballet master Jules Perrot (seated with his violin). Other girls wait, lean against walls, adjust tutus, yawn, or chat—capturing boredom, fatigue, and everyday gestures amid professional discipline. The composition is asymmetrical and cropped, with a large empty floor, high viewpoint, and natural light streaming in to highlight white tutus against muted walls and warm wood. A companion version resides in the Musée d’Orsay. - Onstage Performance: Works like The Star (L’Étoile, c. 1878–81, pastel) or Ballet Scene from Meyerbeer’s Opera ‘Robert le Diable’ (1876) capture fleeting grace under stage lights, often from unusual angles (wings, orchestra pit, or elevated views). Dancers appear suspended in motion, with blurred skirts suggesting movement.
- Rest and Backstage Moments: Dancers slump, stretch, or tie ribbons—revealing the physical toll. Later pastels, such as Blue Dancers (c. 1890s) or Dancers, Pink and Green (c. 1890), shift toward more abstracted, vibrant color explorations.
- Sculpture: Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1878–81, wax with real tutu, hair, and slippers; later cast in bronze) is his most controversial work. Modeled after Marie van Goethem, a young petit rat, it presents an unidealized, almost awkward adolescent—realistic yet “ugly” to contemporary critics, who saw it as bestial or vulgar. It embodies the transitional vulnerability of these girls.
Technique and Influences
Degas was a masterful draftsman who prioritized line, contour, and volume over pure Impressionist color vibration. He employed:
- Asymmetrical, cropped compositions and unusual viewpoints (high angles, oblique perspectives, figures cut by the frame), inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e prints and early photography.
- Controlled or artificial lighting (stage lights, rehearsal-room windows) to sculpt bodies and create dramatic contrasts, rather than Renoir’s dappled outdoor sunlight.
- Innovative media: Pastels (often layered wet or over monotypes), peinture à l’essence (thinned oils), and mixed techniques for luminous yet gritty effects. He captured sequential movement through repeated studies, prefiguring cinematography.
Social/Behavioral and Feminist Readings
Degas’s ballet works function as naturalistic observations of modern urban labor. They expose the commodification of young female bodies: athletic yet vulnerable, trained for both art and potential patronage. Mothers often appear as chaperones (or facilitators) of social advancement. To 19th-century viewers familiar with the Opéra’s subculture, shadowy male figures or the dancers’ weary postures hinted at exploitation.
Feminist interpretations highlight the male gaze: Degas, as a privileged male observer, records these women with detachment—sometimes clinical or voyeuristic. Yet his works also dignify their professionalism and physical effort, avoiding sentimental idealization. Modern readings see them as documents of class and gender dynamics: poor girls navigating a system where talent, endurance, and availability determined survival. The petits rats were disposable; many left the ballet young, their bodies “unsuitable” after puberty.
Compared to Renoir’s warm, democratic leisure scenes (Le Déjeuner des canotiers), Degas’s ballet themes feel cooler and more analytical—revealing the performative artifice and social tensions of modern life. Where Renoir invites communal joy, Degas dissects the labor behind spectacle.
Legacy
Degas transformed ballet from decorative spectacle into a profound modern subject. His dancers remain among the most beloved images in Western art, yet they carry an edge of realism that continues to provoke discussion about beauty, work, exploitation, and the gaze. No artist before or since has explored the theme with such depth, technical innovation, and psychological insight.
His ballet works bridge realism and modernism: rooted in observation of contemporary Paris, yet formally radical. They invite viewers to look beyond the tutu—to the sweat, discipline, and human cost of fleeting grace. In doing so, Degas elevated the “painter of dancing girls” into one of the sharpest chroniclers of 19th-century modernity.
masterpiece
1874 La Classe de Danse
Met Museum
Edgar Degas’s Group Scenes: Observation, Labor, and Modern Detachment
Degas, who resisted the “Impressionist” label and preferred indoor or controlled-light settings, specialized in scenes of ballet rehearsals, opera orchestras, cafés, and laundresses. His group scenes often feel candid, unglamorous, and psychologically distant, revealing the labor, fatigue, and artifice behind public spectacle.
A supreme masterpiece exemplifying this approach is The Dance Class (1874, oil on canvas, 83.5 × 77.2 cm / 32 7/8 × 30 3/8 in., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). This ambitious work depicts an imaginary ballet rehearsal in the old Paris Opéra (which had recently burned down). Around two dozen young ballerinas and their mothers wait in a sunlit rehearsal room while one dancer executes an “attitude” pose for examination under the supervision of the famous ballet master Jules Perrot (seated prominently with his violinist). The girls are shown in unguarded, everyday moments: adjusting tutus, yawning, stretching, leaning against walls, chatting in the mirror’s reflection, or resting wearily on the floor—yet their feet remain pointed and turned out, a constant reminder of the discipline required.
The composition is highly innovative and asymmetrical, influenced by Japanese prints, photography, and radical cropping. Figures are cut off by the frame or viewed from oblique angles; space feels dynamic yet unstable, with diagonals and overlapping forms creating movement and tension. A large expanse of floor and wall balances the clustered dancers, while natural light streams in, casting soft shadows and highlighting the white tutus against the muted gray-green walls and warm wooden floor. Degas uses precise yet fluid brushwork to capture textures—gauzy fabric, wooden floors, and the subtle modeling of bodies in motion or repose—with cooler tones and stronger contrasts than pure plein-air Impressionism.
In social and behavioral terms, The Dance Class exposes the gritty reality behind the ethereal stage glamour of 19th-century ballet. These young dancers (often from modest backgrounds) trained rigorously; many faced exploitation, precarious careers, and the watchful eyes of wealthy male subscribers (abonnés) who frequented the Opéra. Degas’s detached, almost voyeuristic gaze—capturing ungainly postures, boredom, and exhaustion alongside moments of grace—highlights the commodification of female performers and the performative nature of modern urban life. Unlike idealized academic ballet scenes, this work presents the corps de ballet as working professionals in an unglamorous backstage setting.
Other notable group scenes include variants such as The Ballet Class (Musée d’Orsay), opera orchestra pits, and café-concert interiors, all sharing this observational sharpness.
Degas, who resisted the “Impressionist” label and preferred indoor or controlled-light settings, specialized in scenes of ballet rehearsals, opera orchestras, cafés, and laundresses. His group scenes often feel candid, unglamorous, and psychologically distant, revealing the labor, fatigue, and artifice behind public spectacle.
A supreme masterpiece exemplifying this approach is The Dance Class (1874, oil on canvas, 83.5 × 77.2 cm / 32 7/8 × 30 3/8 in., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). This ambitious work depicts an imaginary ballet rehearsal in the old Paris Opéra (which had recently burned down). Around two dozen young ballerinas and their mothers wait in a sunlit rehearsal room while one dancer executes an “attitude” pose for examination under the supervision of the famous ballet master Jules Perrot (seated prominently with his violinist). The girls are shown in unguarded, everyday moments: adjusting tutus, yawning, stretching, leaning against walls, chatting in the mirror’s reflection, or resting wearily on the floor—yet their feet remain pointed and turned out, a constant reminder of the discipline required.
The composition is highly innovative and asymmetrical, influenced by Japanese prints, photography, and radical cropping. Figures are cut off by the frame or viewed from oblique angles; space feels dynamic yet unstable, with diagonals and overlapping forms creating movement and tension. A large expanse of floor and wall balances the clustered dancers, while natural light streams in, casting soft shadows and highlighting the white tutus against the muted gray-green walls and warm wooden floor. Degas uses precise yet fluid brushwork to capture textures—gauzy fabric, wooden floors, and the subtle modeling of bodies in motion or repose—with cooler tones and stronger contrasts than pure plein-air Impressionism.
In social and behavioral terms, The Dance Class exposes the gritty reality behind the ethereal stage glamour of 19th-century ballet. These young dancers (often from modest backgrounds) trained rigorously; many faced exploitation, precarious careers, and the watchful eyes of wealthy male subscribers (abonnés) who frequented the Opéra. Degas’s detached, almost voyeuristic gaze—capturing ungainly postures, boredom, and exhaustion alongside moments of grace—highlights the commodification of female performers and the performative nature of modern urban life. Unlike idealized academic ballet scenes, this work presents the corps de ballet as working professionals in an unglamorous backstage setting.
Other notable group scenes include variants such as The Ballet Class (Musée d’Orsay), opera orchestra pits, and café-concert interiors, all sharing this observational sharpness.
masterpiece
1875-1876 Dans un Café (L'Absinthe)
Musée d'Orsay
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Special Report
Compare with Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte and Edgar Degas were both key figures in the Impressionist circle, sharing interests in modern urban life, photography, Japonisme, and unconventional viewpoints. However, their techniques diverged significantly: Caillebotte favored structured, precise realism with dramatic linear perspective, while Degas emphasized dynamic asymmetry, movement, and experimental media.
Shared Techniques and Influences
Degas, The Dance Class (1874): Asymmetrical, cropped composition.
Key Differences in Perspective and Composition
Caillebotte bridges academic realism and Impressionism with engineered precision—his perspectives feel calculated and photographic in a wide-lens way. Degas is more radical and performative, using techniques to fragment and energize space. Together, they pushed beyond Monet/Renoir’s optical dissolution toward structured modernity.
Their friendship and mutual influence (Caillebotte collected and supported Degas) enriched the group, but Caillebotte’s methodical approach complements Degas’s experimental flair, offering two distinct lenses on 19th-century Paris.
Shared Techniques and Influences
- Photography: Both drew heavily from it for cropping, unexpected angles, and "snapshot" effects. Caillebotte used wide-angle photos (often by his brother Martial) for exaggerated depth; Degas captured fleeting motion and off-balance compositions, anticipating cinema.
- Japonisme: Asymmetrical framing, high horizons, and radical cropping from ukiyo-e prints influenced both.
- Modern Subjects: They depicted contemporary Paris—interiors, workers, leisure—but with psychological detachment.
Degas, The Dance Class (1874): Asymmetrical, cropped composition.
Key Differences in Perspective and Composition
- Caillebotte: Rigorous linear (one- or two-point) perspective with exaggeration. Orthogonals (floors, streets, tables) converge sharply, creating "elastic" depth that funnels the eye and tilts planes dramatically. High or elevated viewpoints emphasize geometry and Haussmannian uniformity. Compositions feel architectural and immersive yet alienating.
- Degas: More fragmented and subjective. Unusual, oblique angles, radical cropping (figures cut off at edges), and shifting viewpoints create instability and movement. Perspectives are often "off-balance" or multi-focal rather than strictly linear. He favored interior, theatrical spaces with overlapping forms and mirrors for complex spatial play.
- Caillebotte: Smoother, more controlled, academic-style modeling with precise drawing. Blends realism and Impressionist light but retains solidity and detail (e.g., glistening reflections, muscular forms). Oil-focused.
- Degas: Looser, layered, and experimental—pastel, monotype, sculpture, mixed media. Scumbled surfaces, broken contours, and vibrant yet nuanced color capture motion and atmosphere (especially in ballet scenes). Less "finished," more suggestive.
- Both convey modern isolation, but Caillebotte’s figures often appear static and emotionally restrained amid bourgeois or labor scenes (e.g., Le Déjeuner, Floor Scrapers). Degas probes intimacy, voyeurism, and performance (ballet rehearsals, café-concerts), with a sharper psychological edge and frequent focus on female subjects.
Caillebotte bridges academic realism and Impressionism with engineered precision—his perspectives feel calculated and photographic in a wide-lens way. Degas is more radical and performative, using techniques to fragment and energize space. Together, they pushed beyond Monet/Renoir’s optical dissolution toward structured modernity.
Their friendship and mutual influence (Caillebotte collected and supported Degas) enriched the group, but Caillebotte’s methodical approach complements Degas’s experimental flair, offering two distinct lenses on 19th-century Paris.
1877 Danseuses en Blanc
2015 SOLD for $ 17M by Sotheby's
The artistic language is experiencing a profound transformation in the 1870s. Painting is already superseded by photography for the resemblance. Edgar Degas is a great innovator who explores staging, light, shine and motion.
Degas is passionate about dance. He spends much time watching the ballerinas on stage and backstage. He does not admire their body but their flexibility, which is the ease of their limbs to reach extreme angles either in action or at rest.
Inspired by Ingres, Degas was a very good draftsman. He rediscovered pastel as a technique allowing the more vivid colors without impairing the quality of the drawing. Like the pre-impressionists, Degas executed his works in his studio from previous sketches. His spontaneity is in fact the result of a long meticulous work, like Constable's.
The dancer on pointe, pastel and gouache made in 1877, shows a ballerina leaning forward, one leg above the horizontal in a movement for which no effort is apparent. Her imbalanced attitude and the empty space in front of her bring to this graphic work an illusion of motion that is unprecedented in the history of art. The delicacy of the colors anticipates Lautrec.
The young dancer takes the same position in the same colors but now leading a group of four in Danseuses en blanc, pastel and gouache on paper 53 x 65 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 32T. The four girls play a simultaneous dance step in a bold composition in which no body is seen in its entirety.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's, also introducing the pastel of a nude offered in the same sale.
Degas is passionate about dance. He spends much time watching the ballerinas on stage and backstage. He does not admire their body but their flexibility, which is the ease of their limbs to reach extreme angles either in action or at rest.
Inspired by Ingres, Degas was a very good draftsman. He rediscovered pastel as a technique allowing the more vivid colors without impairing the quality of the drawing. Like the pre-impressionists, Degas executed his works in his studio from previous sketches. His spontaneity is in fact the result of a long meticulous work, like Constable's.
The dancer on pointe, pastel and gouache made in 1877, shows a ballerina leaning forward, one leg above the horizontal in a movement for which no effort is apparent. Her imbalanced attitude and the empty space in front of her bring to this graphic work an illusion of motion that is unprecedented in the history of art. The delicacy of the colors anticipates Lautrec.
The young dancer takes the same position in the same colors but now leading a group of four in Danseuses en blanc, pastel and gouache on paper 53 x 65 cm was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015, lot 32T. The four girls play a simultaneous dance step in a bold composition in which no body is seen in its entirety.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's, also introducing the pastel of a nude offered in the same sale.
1879 Danseuse au Repos
2008 SOLD for $ 37M by Sotheby's
Degas became interested in the world of dance at the instigation of his friend Ludovic Halévy. In 1875 the inauguration of the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier opened a new phase in his life and in his art. He attends the performances that take place three times a week, and his subscription allows an unlimited access behind the scenes.
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 17.6M on June 28, 1999, lot 4 and for $ 37M on November 3, 2008, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artologism @artologism Aug 19, 2023
#گینس_هنری: گرانترین نقاشی از ادگار دگا یک نقاشی پاستل از ادگار دگا با عنوان Danseuse au repos مربوط به حدود سال ۱۸۷۹، در سال ۱۹۹۹ در حراجی ساتبیز در نیویورک به قیمت 17,601,500 پوند به فروش رسید و به گرانترین اثر نقاشی از این هنرمند مشهور فرانسوی تبدیل شد.
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 17.6M on June 28, 1999, lot 4 and for $ 37M on November 3, 2008, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artologism @artologism Aug 19, 2023
#گینس_هنری: گرانترین نقاشی از ادگار دگا یک نقاشی پاستل از ادگار دگا با عنوان Danseuse au repos مربوط به حدود سال ۱۸۷۹، در سال ۱۹۹۹ در حراجی ساتبیز در نیویورک به قیمت 17,601,500 پوند به فروش رسید و به گرانترین اثر نقاشی از این هنرمند مشهور فرانسوی تبدیل شد.
- The post details Edgar Degas's 1879 pastel "Danseuse au Repos," depicting a resting ballerina, which sold for £17.6 million ($28 million) at Sotheby's in 1999, establishing a record for his paintings that persists into 2025 per Guinness World Records.
- Minor inaccuracy: The auction occurred in London, not New York; Degas, a key Impressionist, produced over 1,500 ballerina works, reflecting his backstage access to Paris's Opéra ballet.
- The sale highlights surging demand for Degas's pastels, which capture movement and light innovatively; adjusted for inflation, it equates to about $32 million today, outpacing recent estimates like a 2025 "Trois Danseuses" at $5 million max.
for reference
1879 Deux Danseuses
Shelburne Museum
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1879 Miss Cassatt au Musée du Louvre
2002 SOLD for $ 16.5M by Sotheby's
Degas and Cassatt met in 1877. They were artistically very close. In 1879 Mary contributed for the first time to an Exposition des Impressionnistes after being invited by Degas. Degas made in that year a series of pastels on a visit of Mary Cassatt and her sister in the Musée du Louvre.
On May 8, 2002, Sotheby's sold for $ 16.5M from a lower estimate of $ 12M a pastel 72 x 54 cm on 7 joined paper sheets, lot 13, featuring a standing Mary Cassatt and her seated sister in a gallery of paintings of the Musée du Louvre. Mary turns her back to the viewer and leans on her umbrella.
On May 8, 2002, Sotheby's sold for $ 16.5M from a lower estimate of $ 12M a pastel 72 x 54 cm on 7 joined paper sheets, lot 13, featuring a standing Mary Cassatt and her seated sister in a gallery of paintings of the Musée du Louvre. Mary turns her back to the viewer and leans on her umbrella.
1880 Danseuses à la Barre
2008 SOLD for £ 13.5M by Christie's
In the late 1870s Edgar Degas made much business with his paintings of the ballerinas of the Opéra de Paris, on stage, rehearsal or backstage.
Interested by their youthful flexibility, he captures them in a moment of unbalance, letting the viewer to imagine the following of the movement. Their costumes are an excuse for the bright colors of the pastel on paper. The pastel is also conducive to reworks up to the perfection required by the artist.
A lifelong bachelor, Degas was indeed not appealed by the bodies of his models. He took sketches in the Opéra and operated lengthy boring sitting sessions. He will gradually become a keen user of photography, a technique that matched his need for instantaneous effects.
Degas was not interested by the mind of his models, of whom he rarely displays the faces. The famous Deux danseuses of 1879, kept by the Shelburne Museum, is a demonstrator of Degas's misogyny.
When they are dancing or training in groups, they are all similar, often doing the same movement. He is not disturbed to trim them by the framing so that a global view of a girl is a synthesis of several figures.
The 1877 group of four from the Taubman collection, sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's in 2015, is a great example. Danseuse au repos, sold for $ 37M by Sotheby's in 2008, is a variant of the Deux Danseuses on which one of them is nearly completely trimmed, only leaving visible a shoulder and the left part of her tutu.
Danseuses à la barre, pastel, gouache and charcoal on paper 66 x 51 cm, features two ballerinas at training. They are nearly identical with a slight difference in the position of the arm. The profile of the girl on the right is trimmed between ear and eye. By the style, this piece is dated ca 1880. It was sold for £ 13.5M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Christie's on June 24, 2008, lot 9.
Interested by their youthful flexibility, he captures them in a moment of unbalance, letting the viewer to imagine the following of the movement. Their costumes are an excuse for the bright colors of the pastel on paper. The pastel is also conducive to reworks up to the perfection required by the artist.
A lifelong bachelor, Degas was indeed not appealed by the bodies of his models. He took sketches in the Opéra and operated lengthy boring sitting sessions. He will gradually become a keen user of photography, a technique that matched his need for instantaneous effects.
Degas was not interested by the mind of his models, of whom he rarely displays the faces. The famous Deux danseuses of 1879, kept by the Shelburne Museum, is a demonstrator of Degas's misogyny.
When they are dancing or training in groups, they are all similar, often doing the same movement. He is not disturbed to trim them by the framing so that a global view of a girl is a synthesis of several figures.
The 1877 group of four from the Taubman collection, sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's in 2015, is a great example. Danseuse au repos, sold for $ 37M by Sotheby's in 2008, is a variant of the Deux Danseuses on which one of them is nearly completely trimmed, only leaving visible a shoulder and the left part of her tutu.
Danseuses à la barre, pastel, gouache and charcoal on paper 66 x 51 cm, features two ballerinas at training. They are nearly identical with a slight difference in the position of the arm. The profile of the girl on the right is trimmed between ear and eye. By the style, this piece is dated ca 1880. It was sold for £ 13.5M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Christie's on June 24, 2008, lot 9.
1882-1885 Dans les Coulisses
2018 SOLD for £ 9M by Christie's
Edgar Degas obtained through the support of his childhood friend the playwright Ludovic Halévy an unlimited access to the Paris Opera. In the early 1880s he spent a considerable time therein, seeking the atmosphere in the rehearsal and resting rooms of the artists and in the backside.
On February 27, 2018, Christie's sold for £ 9M an intimist and spontaneous scene titled Dans les coulisses, lot 20. Typical of the period 1882-1885, this 67 x 38 cm artwork is a pastel on linen, a rare combination even for this artist who was looking for unprecedented solutions.
A woman and a man stand side by side in the stage wings. The young woman holds a sheet of music : this simple information is enough to identify that she is a singer waiting before performing her role. She is focused on her observation of the stage out of field of the image. She does not care about the man who is yet very close to her. He is an abonné who has subscribed for his privilege to wander everywhere inside the theater.
The composition is bold, just as Degas loved it. The man who is somehow an intruder is half off the field. The very demanding artist was satisfied with its ambience effect. In 1889 it was included in the short list of fifteen highly significant examples from his art selected by Degas himself for a lithographic edition by Thornley.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
On February 27, 2018, Christie's sold for £ 9M an intimist and spontaneous scene titled Dans les coulisses, lot 20. Typical of the period 1882-1885, this 67 x 38 cm artwork is a pastel on linen, a rare combination even for this artist who was looking for unprecedented solutions.
A woman and a man stand side by side in the stage wings. The young woman holds a sheet of music : this simple information is enough to identify that she is a singer waiting before performing her role. She is focused on her observation of the stage out of field of the image. She does not care about the man who is yet very close to her. He is an abonné who has subscribed for his privilege to wander everywhere inside the theater.
The composition is bold, just as Degas loved it. The man who is somehow an intruder is half off the field. The very demanding artist was satisfied with its ambience effect. In 1889 it was included in the short list of fifteen highly significant examples from his art selected by Degas himself for a lithographic edition by Thornley.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Edgar Degas’s ‘Dans Les Coulisses’ will star in our Impressionist and Modern Art evening auction on 27 Feb. Chosen by Degas as one of few works to be reproduced in his lifetime, this work has not been seen in public for 10 years #Impressionism #AuctionHighlight #Christies pic.twitter.com/i8ZOu2jLg3
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) January 29, 2018
1885 Danseuse
2021 SOLD for $ 11.8M by Sotheby's
A pastel on paper 73 x 60 cm painted by Degas in his signature theme of the "petits rats" of the Opéra de Paris was sold by Sotheby's for $ 10.6M on May 6, 2003, lot 11, and for $ 11.8M on May 12, 2021, lot 1005. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The dance was Degas's preferred theme for expressing textures and movement. This picture has been designed as an enchantment both by the attitude of the young ballerina and by the harmony and variety of light colors. She is viewed in full length in close-up, alone on stage, beginning her dance, the torso slightly leaning forward, with a highly elegant position of fingers and legs.
Danseuse jaune, a pastel of the same girl in exactly the same attitude and angle of view but with another background, dated ca 1885, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 8.7M on November 12, 1996. A significant difference is the ecstatic smile in the pastel of the next sale. These views display an empathy that departs from the images of young bodies tired by the performance.
They could be portraits of Marie, whom Degas met for the first time in 1879 when she was still a teenager in an unfinished growth. During the 1880s Degas was keen to follow her transformation and her progress. The pretty and delicate young woman, 20 years old in 1885, used to serve as a model for the artists.
The dance was Degas's preferred theme for expressing textures and movement. This picture has been designed as an enchantment both by the attitude of the young ballerina and by the harmony and variety of light colors. She is viewed in full length in close-up, alone on stage, beginning her dance, the torso slightly leaning forward, with a highly elegant position of fingers and legs.
Danseuse jaune, a pastel of the same girl in exactly the same attitude and angle of view but with another background, dated ca 1885, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 8.7M on November 12, 1996. A significant difference is the ecstatic smile in the pastel of the next sale. These views display an empathy that departs from the images of young bodies tired by the performance.
They could be portraits of Marie, whom Degas met for the first time in 1879 when she was still a teenager in an unfinished growth. During the 1880s Degas was keen to follow her transformation and her progress. The pretty and delicate young woman, 20 years old in 1885, used to serve as a model for the artists.
#AuctionUpdate: Once in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for nearly 70 years, Edgar Degas’s Danseuse brings $11.8 million. This dazzling work on paper is a fully worked & richly pigmented composition of Degas’s most iconic motif: the Parisian ballet. pic.twitter.com/a9D9acVVHa
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 13, 2021
1900 Trois Danseuses
2015 SOLD for $ 12M by Christie's
Edgar Degas is 54 years old in 1888. Still a keen observer of the backstage of the Opéra, he shifts his interest from the petits rats of the dancing school to mature ballerinas.
In his oil paintings the misogynist artist used to display women with ugly faces damaged by vice or hard labor. L'Absinthe, painted in 1875-1876, is a great example. His pastels of ballerinas and bathing nudes had a commercial purpose, and he most often preferred hiding or blurring the faces.
Made ca 1888, Avant l'entrée en scène (deux danseuses) features two aging ballerinas in the backstage. One of them holds a fan in an overall stiff attitude that contradicts her role in a ballet. Both profile faces are visible. This 60 x 34 cm pastel was listed and withdrawn by Christie's on June 21, 2011.
Trois danseuses, painted ca 1900, features two standing women in colored tutu in the foreground plus a third one half hidden by them. They are viewed from the back. The positions are varied but clumsy. Two of them bend the body and raise an arm while the leading woman turns her head, making visible an unfriendly profile of the face.
This pastel laid down on board 65 x 52 cm was sold for $ 12M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 16C.
Trois Danseuses, pastel on tracing paper mounted on card 67 x 51 cm executed by Degas ca 1897, was sold for $ 5.8M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2025, lot 126.
Asking Grok to compare both lots.
Grok thought :
Comparison of Two Notable "Trois Danseuses" Pastels by Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) created numerous works titled or subtitled Trois danseuses (Three Dancers) throughout his career, particularly in pastel, his preferred medium for ballet subjects in his later years. These often depict ballerinas in rehearsal, preparation, or performance poses, with variations in composition, color, pose, and costume. Degas frequently revisited motifs serially, refining poses and experimenting with vibrant hues and layered application.Here are the two specific works referenced, based on auction records:
1. Trois danseuses – Sotheby's New York, Modern Evening Auction, November 20, 2025, Lot 126
AspectSotheby's 2025 (Lot 126)Christie's 2015 (Lot 16C)
Composition
Earlier : three dancers; typically rehearsal/prep, asymmetrical grouping
Later : Three dancers in tutus; frieze-like, with arms raised or adjusted poses; focus on harmony and color contrast
Color Palette
Earlier : Vibrant, luminous (Degas's signature late intensity)
Later : Bold primaries/contrasts (e.g., yellow/blue/red skirts, green bodices common in series)
Technique
Earlier : Heavy pastel layering, hatching for volume and light
Later : Similar layered/opaque pastel; experimental, almost sculptural texture
Theme
Earlier : Backstage ballet life, movement frozen in time
Later : Same – emphasis on grace, effort, and artificiality of dance
Differences
Earlier : Unique pose variation
Later : More horizontal emphasis in some related series works; known for classical inspiration (e.g., echoes of The Three Graces)
Similarities
Both quintessential late Degas: obsession with ballet, serial exploration, radiant color, and psychological depth in "everyday" dancer moments
Degas produced dozens of "three dancers" variations, often without fixed titles – many share motifs but differ in orientation (e.g., dancers facing left/right), costume details, and background abstraction. The two works considered here are distinct pieces from this rich late oeuvre, where Degas's vision grew bolder, more abstract, and color-saturated as his eyesight declined. Both exemplify why his dancer pastels remain among the most sought-after Impressionist works: they capture fleeting grace with monumental presence.
In his oil paintings the misogynist artist used to display women with ugly faces damaged by vice or hard labor. L'Absinthe, painted in 1875-1876, is a great example. His pastels of ballerinas and bathing nudes had a commercial purpose, and he most often preferred hiding or blurring the faces.
Made ca 1888, Avant l'entrée en scène (deux danseuses) features two aging ballerinas in the backstage. One of them holds a fan in an overall stiff attitude that contradicts her role in a ballet. Both profile faces are visible. This 60 x 34 cm pastel was listed and withdrawn by Christie's on June 21, 2011.
Trois danseuses, painted ca 1900, features two standing women in colored tutu in the foreground plus a third one half hidden by them. They are viewed from the back. The positions are varied but clumsy. Two of them bend the body and raise an arm while the leading woman turns her head, making visible an unfriendly profile of the face.
This pastel laid down on board 65 x 52 cm was sold for $ 12M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Christie's on May 14, 2015, lot 16C.
Trois Danseuses, pastel on tracing paper mounted on card 67 x 51 cm executed by Degas ca 1897, was sold for $ 5.8M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2025, lot 126.
Asking Grok to compare both lots.
Grok thought :
Comparison of Two Notable "Trois Danseuses" Pastels by Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) created numerous works titled or subtitled Trois danseuses (Three Dancers) throughout his career, particularly in pastel, his preferred medium for ballet subjects in his later years. These often depict ballerinas in rehearsal, preparation, or performance poses, with variations in composition, color, pose, and costume. Degas frequently revisited motifs serially, refining poses and experimenting with vibrant hues and layered application.Here are the two specific works referenced, based on auction records:
1. Trois danseuses – Sotheby's New York, Modern Evening Auction, November 20, 2025, Lot 126
- Date of execution: Degas's late dancer pastels typically date from c. 1895–1910.
- Medium: Pastel (likely on paper or joined paper, mounted as was common for Degas).
- Description/Provenance highlights: aligns with Degas's iconic late-style ballerina groups – bold colors, dynamic poses, and luminous effects. Provenance traces back through private collections; many such works originated from Degas's atelier sales (1918–1919).
- Style notes: vibrant, expressive application typical of Degas's mature pastels, emphasizing movement, tutus in contrasting colors (e.g., yellow skirts, green/red bodices), and off-center framing.
- Date of execution: c. 1900–1905 (late period).
- Medium: Pastel on joined paper laid down on board.
- Dimensions: Approximately 25–26 inches in height/width (similar scale to many late Degas dancer pastels).
- Description: Depicts three ballerinas in tutus, often in preparatory or resting poses, with rich, saturated colors (e.g., variations in skirt hues like yellow, blue, or red; bodices in contrasting tones). This work belongs to Degas's series exploring frieze-like arrangements of dancers, with bold hatching, layered pastel for texture, and a sense of intimacy/backstage atmosphere.
- Provenance highlights: From Degas's estate/atelier sales; passed through notable collectors. Comparable to works like Trois danseuses (jupes bleues, corsages rouges) (c. 1903, Fondation Beyeler) or other late serial variations.
AspectSotheby's 2025 (Lot 126)Christie's 2015 (Lot 16C)
Composition
Earlier : three dancers; typically rehearsal/prep, asymmetrical grouping
Later : Three dancers in tutus; frieze-like, with arms raised or adjusted poses; focus on harmony and color contrast
Color Palette
Earlier : Vibrant, luminous (Degas's signature late intensity)
Later : Bold primaries/contrasts (e.g., yellow/blue/red skirts, green bodices common in series)
Technique
Earlier : Heavy pastel layering, hatching for volume and light
Later : Similar layered/opaque pastel; experimental, almost sculptural texture
Theme
Earlier : Backstage ballet life, movement frozen in time
Later : Same – emphasis on grace, effort, and artificiality of dance
Differences
Earlier : Unique pose variation
Later : More horizontal emphasis in some related series works; known for classical inspiration (e.g., echoes of The Three Graces)
Similarities
Both quintessential late Degas: obsession with ballet, serial exploration, radiant color, and psychological depth in "everyday" dancer moments
Degas produced dozens of "three dancers" variations, often without fixed titles – many share motifs but differ in orientation (e.g., dancers facing left/right), costume details, and background abstraction. The two works considered here are distinct pieces from this rich late oeuvre, where Degas's vision grew bolder, more abstract, and color-saturated as his eyesight declined. Both exemplify why his dancer pastels remain among the most sought-after Impressionist works: they capture fleeting grace with monumental presence.
Special Report
Misogyny
The controversies surrounding Edgar Degas' alleged misogyny have persisted since the late 19th century, intensifying in modern feminist art criticism. They center primarily on his depictions of women—especially in the bathers/toilette pastels (like the Femme à sa toilette series), ballet dancers, laundresses, milliners, and brothel monotypes—along with his personal statements, lifestyle, and reported behavior.
Origins of the "Misogyny" Label
The notion gained traction with contemporary critics like J.-K. Huysmans, who in response to Degas' 1886 exhibition of nudes at their toilette described the works as showing an "attentive cruelty" and "patient hatred" toward the female form. Huysmans and others portrayed Degas' bathers as ugly, awkward, and animalistic rather than idealized, accusing him of debasing women by showing them in unflattering, functional poses (sponging, drying, bending) without grace or erotic appeal. Paul Valéry later echoed this, noting an element of misogyny in Degas' mimicry and observations of women.
Degas himself contributed to the perception with quotable remarks, such as:
Critics like Griselda Pollock have argued that the works force (female) viewers into a “sadistic masculine position” or masochistic identification with “bizarrely posed and cruelly drawn bodies,” seeing the art as enacting symbolic violence or punishment on women.
Key Points of Controversy
Not all scholars accept the misogyny label uncritically. Norma Broude (in her 1977 Art Bulletin article “Degas’s ‘Misogyny’” and later work) argued that the charge originated in literary exaggeration by Huysmans and others, and that Degas' art actually challenged feminine stereotypes by showing modern women in everyday labor without idealization or mythological pretext. She linked some works (including bathers) to the context of contemporary French feminism around 1880, portraying them as progressive observations of women's reality rather than hatred.
Other points in defense or complication:
The controversy has influenced how Degas is taught and exhibited. Some view his work as emblematic of the male gaze in art history; others defend its technical innovation and social observation. In the context of the upcoming Sotheby's Femme à sa toilette (a mature bather pastel), these debates add layers to its market and cultural value—highlighting both its mastery of pastel and its position in ongoing discussions of gender, voyeurism, and representation.
Ultimately, Degas' bathers and related works remain polarizing precisely because they refuse easy idealization or eroticism, forcing viewers to confront uncomfortable questions about looking, privacy, and the female body in modern art. Interpretations continue to evolve, with no universal consensus.
Origins of the "Misogyny" Label
The notion gained traction with contemporary critics like J.-K. Huysmans, who in response to Degas' 1886 exhibition of nudes at their toilette described the works as showing an "attentive cruelty" and "patient hatred" toward the female form. Huysmans and others portrayed Degas' bathers as ugly, awkward, and animalistic rather than idealized, accusing him of debasing women by showing them in unflattering, functional poses (sponging, drying, bending) without grace or erotic appeal. Paul Valéry later echoed this, noting an element of misogyny in Degas' mimicry and observations of women.
Degas himself contributed to the perception with quotable remarks, such as:
- “I have perhaps too often considered woman as an animal.”
- “Women can never forgive me; they hate me, they feel that I am disarming them. I show them without their coquetry, in the state of animals cleaning themselves.”
Critics like Griselda Pollock have argued that the works force (female) viewers into a “sadistic masculine position” or masochistic identification with “bizarrely posed and cruelly drawn bodies,” seeing the art as enacting symbolic violence or punishment on women.
Key Points of Controversy
- Voyeurism and the Bathers Series: The elevated, oblique angles and intimate domestic scenes (often linked to Japonisme influences, as discussed previously) are read by some as intrusive prying into female privacy. The women appear absorbed and unposed, emphasizing physical awkwardness over beauty or availability. Detractors view this as dehumanizing or sadistic, especially in the context of 19th-century gender norms.
- Ballet Dancers (“Opera Rats”): Degas focused on the corps de ballet rather than stars, showing young working-class girls in exhausting, painful poses (“cracking their joints,” raw feet). He reportedly called them “little monkey girls” and subjected models to long, uncomfortable studio sessions. Some see this as exploitative observation of vulnerable women whose profession overlapped with prostitution risks.
- Brothel Monotypes: These explicit, often anonymous scenes of prostitutes (faceless, from behind) are cited as particularly dehumanizing, reducing women to their sexual/commercial function.
- Personal Life: Degas remained a lifelong bachelor and recluse, reportedly equating women with racehorses or animals in private comments. He held conservative views typical of his class and era, including anti-Semitism (e.g., during the Dreyfus Affair). His relationships with women were complex: he was reportedly difficult and demanding with models.
Not all scholars accept the misogyny label uncritically. Norma Broude (in her 1977 Art Bulletin article “Degas’s ‘Misogyny’” and later work) argued that the charge originated in literary exaggeration by Huysmans and others, and that Degas' art actually challenged feminine stereotypes by showing modern women in everyday labor without idealization or mythological pretext. She linked some works (including bathers) to the context of contemporary French feminism around 1880, portraying them as progressive observations of women's reality rather than hatred.
Other points in defense or complication:
- Sympathy for Working Women: Many interpretations see Degas as documenting the harsh realities of modern life—exhaustion of dancers, labor of laundresses—without sentimentalizing or eroticizing them. This realism was shocking at the time but can be read as honest rather than cruel. Vincent van Gogh reportedly viewed Degas' attitude as impartiality, not misogyny.
- Support for Female Artists: Degas invited Mary Cassatt to exhibit with the Impressionists, collaborated with her (she posed for him; they exchanged techniques), bought and promoted her work, and encouraged Suzanne Valadon (a former model and working-class artist), telling her “You are one of us!” and mentoring her. These actions contrast with blanket misogyny claims.
- Context of the Era: Degas operated in a deeply patriarchal, misogynistic society. His detached style aligned with naturalist/Impressionist goals of capturing unposed modernity, not necessarily personal animus. Early portraits of female relatives show sensitivity, and some scholars (e.g., Eunice Lipton) emphasize robust, able working-class women in his oeuvre.
- Middle Ground: Recent scholarship often rejects binary labels (pure misogynist vs. feminist ally), noting the variety in his representations—some granting agency or dignity, others more objectifying—and the difficulty of inferring personal psychology from art. The “misogyny” debate sometimes reflects shifting modern standards more than a fixed historical truth.
The controversy has influenced how Degas is taught and exhibited. Some view his work as emblematic of the male gaze in art history; others defend its technical innovation and social observation. In the context of the upcoming Sotheby's Femme à sa toilette (a mature bather pastel), these debates add layers to its market and cultural value—highlighting both its mastery of pastel and its position in ongoing discussions of gender, voyeurism, and representation.
Ultimately, Degas' bathers and related works remain polarizing precisely because they refuse easy idealization or eroticism, forcing viewers to confront uncomfortable questions about looking, privacy, and the female body in modern art. Interpretations continue to evolve, with no universal consensus.
Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (posthumous)
Intro
An original artist with an uneasy temper, Edgar Degas was one of the most innovative graphic artists of the nineteenth century. He knew that he was close to the Impressionists and appreciated their rejection of classicism. His own creative process was very complex, as shown in the example below.
In 1879, Marie draws the attention of the artist. Aged 14, this "petit rat d'Opéra" is an ungrateful teenager, far from physiological maturity, with awkward gestures, but already attracted to her future career as a dancer (which ended before it was to start when she was fired from the dance school for repeated absences).
Degas was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, photographer, printer, but his great art was oil and pastel. He used drawing and sculpture like sketches.
On his first sculpture of Marie, 74 cm high, the girl is naked. This makes sense since the artist wants to study the movements of her body. This is not enough for him. He realized another larger statue in painted wax, a little over 1 m, in the same position, with the unconventional idea to equip it with a dancing dress in cloth and real hair. By its realism that does not reject some ugliness, this portrait of an adolescent girl is indeed a key work of modern sculpture.
As in his many pastels of ballerinas, Degas captures a moment of life which is neither from the performance nor relaxed, which may be a reverie or an exhaustion.
After much hesitation, he shows his Petite danseuse de quatorze ans at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881. After this unique event and until his death in 1917, no sculpture of the master will be exhibited.
Degas had considered that his waxes were too fragile for preparing bronze casts. In 1918 his heirs contracted Adrien Hébrard to produce limited bronze editions of all seventy-four wax sculptures found during the posthumous inventory.
Hébrard worked often on request from collectors. The first complete set of bronzes was finished in 1921. This activity made the founder busy up to 1938 including a total 29 casts of the Petite Danseuse.
Petite danseuse de quatorze ans was edited by Hébrard in bronze with muslin skirt and satin hair ribbon.
Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans), modeled 1878–1881, stands as one of the most radical, controversial, and technically innovative sculptures of the 19th century. It is the only sculpture Degas exhibited publicly during his lifetime (at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1881). Today, the fragile original wax figure resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (acquired via Paul Mellon), while approximately 27–30 bronze casts (produced after Degas’s death in 1917) are dispersed in major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musée d’Orsay, and others.
The Model and Social Context
The sculpture portrays Marie Geneviève van Goethem (or van Goethem), a young petit rat (“little rat”)—the nickname for the lowest-ranking ballet students at the Paris Opéra Ballet. Born into a working-class family (father a tailor, mother a laundress), Marie and her sisters entered the ballet to escape poverty. These girls, often from modest or marginal backgrounds, endured grueling training from a young age. Many faced exploitation: low pay, physical strain, and pressure from wealthy male abonnés (subscribers) who had backstage access and frequently sought sexual favors. Marie’s older sister Antoinette occasionally worked as a prostitute to support the family. After leaving the Opéra, Marie’s life faded into obscurity; she likely died in poverty. Degas captured her at around age 14, embodying the transitional vulnerability of these young dancers—poised between childhood and the harsh realities of adult professional (and sometimes transactional) life.
Materials, Technique, and Radical Realism
Degas constructed the original as a mixed-media assemblage rather than carving or modeling in a traditional academic manner:
Reception in 1881: Scandal and Innovation
Contemporary critics reacted with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. Many found the figure “ugly,” “vulgar,” or even “monstrous”—comparing her facial features to a monkey, an Aztec, or a criminal type (invoking then-popular pseudosciences like phrenology and physiognomy). Terms like “flower of precocious depravity” or “hateful promise of every vice” reflected class prejudice: the public associated the unidealized working-class girl with moral corruption and the Opéra’s seedy underbelly. Some praised its bold realism and modernity, with Joris-Karl Huysmans hailing it as overthrowing the traditions of sculpture much as Degas had shaken painting. Degas withdrew the work after a short display and never exhibited another sculpture publicly.
The scandal stemmed from its rejection of academic ideals: instead of a graceful, timeless nymph, Degas presented a specific, contemporary adolescent—awkward, determined, and marked by her environment.
Interpretations: Realism, Exploitation, and the Gaze
Legacy
After Degas’s death, his heirs authorized bronze editions to preserve and monetize the waxes (many of which were deteriorating). Today, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is one of the most recognizable and beloved sculptures in the world—ironically transformed from a scandalous outlier into an icon of modern art. It continues to provoke discussion about realism vs. idealization, the ethics of representation, the lives of working artists (especially young women), and the blurred line between observation and objectification.
In the broader context of Degas’s ballet oeuvre, it distills his lifelong fascination with movement, labor, and modernity into a single, uncompromising figure: a young girl caught between aspiration and the unforgiving realities of her world. Its enduring power lies in that unresolved tension—beautiful in its honesty, unsettling in its truth.
In 1879, Marie draws the attention of the artist. Aged 14, this "petit rat d'Opéra" is an ungrateful teenager, far from physiological maturity, with awkward gestures, but already attracted to her future career as a dancer (which ended before it was to start when she was fired from the dance school for repeated absences).
Degas was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, photographer, printer, but his great art was oil and pastel. He used drawing and sculpture like sketches.
On his first sculpture of Marie, 74 cm high, the girl is naked. This makes sense since the artist wants to study the movements of her body. This is not enough for him. He realized another larger statue in painted wax, a little over 1 m, in the same position, with the unconventional idea to equip it with a dancing dress in cloth and real hair. By its realism that does not reject some ugliness, this portrait of an adolescent girl is indeed a key work of modern sculpture.
As in his many pastels of ballerinas, Degas captures a moment of life which is neither from the performance nor relaxed, which may be a reverie or an exhaustion.
After much hesitation, he shows his Petite danseuse de quatorze ans at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881. After this unique event and until his death in 1917, no sculpture of the master will be exhibited.
Degas had considered that his waxes were too fragile for preparing bronze casts. In 1918 his heirs contracted Adrien Hébrard to produce limited bronze editions of all seventy-four wax sculptures found during the posthumous inventory.
Hébrard worked often on request from collectors. The first complete set of bronzes was finished in 1921. This activity made the founder busy up to 1938 including a total 29 casts of the Petite Danseuse.
Petite danseuse de quatorze ans was edited by Hébrard in bronze with muslin skirt and satin hair ribbon.
Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans), modeled 1878–1881, stands as one of the most radical, controversial, and technically innovative sculptures of the 19th century. It is the only sculpture Degas exhibited publicly during his lifetime (at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1881). Today, the fragile original wax figure resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (acquired via Paul Mellon), while approximately 27–30 bronze casts (produced after Degas’s death in 1917) are dispersed in major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musée d’Orsay, and others.
The Model and Social Context
The sculpture portrays Marie Geneviève van Goethem (or van Goethem), a young petit rat (“little rat”)—the nickname for the lowest-ranking ballet students at the Paris Opéra Ballet. Born into a working-class family (father a tailor, mother a laundress), Marie and her sisters entered the ballet to escape poverty. These girls, often from modest or marginal backgrounds, endured grueling training from a young age. Many faced exploitation: low pay, physical strain, and pressure from wealthy male abonnés (subscribers) who had backstage access and frequently sought sexual favors. Marie’s older sister Antoinette occasionally worked as a prostitute to support the family. After leaving the Opéra, Marie’s life faded into obscurity; she likely died in poverty. Degas captured her at around age 14, embodying the transitional vulnerability of these young dancers—poised between childhood and the harsh realities of adult professional (and sometimes transactional) life.
Materials, Technique, and Radical Realism
Degas constructed the original as a mixed-media assemblage rather than carving or modeling in a traditional academic manner:
- Core structure: Metal armature reinforced with rope, wood chips, old paintbrushes, and an organic bundle, coated in clay, then clad in pigmented beeswax for the skin.
- Hyperrealist additions: Real human hair (a wig tied with a silk and linen ribbon), a cotton faille bodice, cotton-and-silk tutu (often tarlatan or gauze, replaced over time in casts), linen ballet slippers, and a wooden base.
- Scale and pose: Life-sized (approximately 98–99 cm / 39 inches tall). The girl stands in a relaxed fourth-position stance—weight on the back leg, front foot extended, arms clasped behind her back, head held high with a slightly lifted chin—conveying both discipline and adolescent awkwardness. The body shows subtle signs of strain and realism (protruding ribs, uneven skin tones in the wax).
Reception in 1881: Scandal and Innovation
Contemporary critics reacted with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. Many found the figure “ugly,” “vulgar,” or even “monstrous”—comparing her facial features to a monkey, an Aztec, or a criminal type (invoking then-popular pseudosciences like phrenology and physiognomy). Terms like “flower of precocious depravity” or “hateful promise of every vice” reflected class prejudice: the public associated the unidealized working-class girl with moral corruption and the Opéra’s seedy underbelly. Some praised its bold realism and modernity, with Joris-Karl Huysmans hailing it as overthrowing the traditions of sculpture much as Degas had shaken painting. Degas withdrew the work after a short display and never exhibited another sculpture publicly.
The scandal stemmed from its rejection of academic ideals: instead of a graceful, timeless nymph, Degas presented a specific, contemporary adolescent—awkward, determined, and marked by her environment.
Interpretations: Realism, Exploitation, and the Gaze
- Modernist breakthrough: The work pioneered hyperrealism and multimedia in sculpture, prefiguring 20th-century developments (assemblage, verism). It treated a modern, everyday subject with the seriousness traditionally reserved for classical or heroic themes.
- Social commentary: Degas exposed the harsh realities of the petits rats—their discipline, physical toll, and precarious social position—without romanticizing ballet’s glamour. The pose suggests both poised professionalism and underlying tension.
- Feminist and critical readings: Interpretations vary widely. Some see voyeurism or misogyny in Degas’s detached observation of young female bodies (he reportedly called dancers “little monkeys” and demanded long posing sessions). Others view it as compassionate realism or even subtle critique of bourgeois exploitation and the commodification of young women. The direct, unapologetic presence of the figure can read as resilient dignity amid adversity. Modern scholars debate whether Degas reinforced or challenged the era’s gender and class dynamics.
Legacy
After Degas’s death, his heirs authorized bronze editions to preserve and monetize the waxes (many of which were deteriorating). Today, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is one of the most recognizable and beloved sculptures in the world—ironically transformed from a scandalous outlier into an icon of modern art. It continues to provoke discussion about realism vs. idealization, the ethics of representation, the lives of working artists (especially young women), and the blurred line between observation and objectification.
In the broader context of Degas’s ballet oeuvre, it distills his lifelong fascination with movement, labor, and modernity into a single, uncompromising figure: a young girl caught between aspiration and the unforgiving realities of her world. Its enduring power lies in that unresolved tension—beautiful in its honesty, unsettling in its truth.
1
1927
2022 SOLD for $ 42M by Christie's
A bronze 103 cm high not including the wooden base was sold for $ 42M from a lower estimate of $ 20M for sale by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 2C.
This copy with brown patina was cast in 1927 by Hébrard in commission from a US collector. It is fitted with the usual muslin skirt and satin hair ribbon of that model.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 13, 2022
#AuctionUpdate From the Anne H. Bass Collection, Edgar Degas’s ‘Petite danseuse de quatorze ans’ broke the auction record of the artist tonight; price realized $41.6 million
This copy with brown patina was cast in 1927 by Hébrard in commission from a US collector. It is fitted with the usual muslin skirt and satin hair ribbon of that model.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 13, 2022
#AuctionUpdate From the Anne H. Bass Collection, Edgar Degas’s ‘Petite danseuse de quatorze ans’ broke the auction record of the artist tonight; price realized $41.6 million
- Edgar Degas's "Petite danseuse de quatorze ans," a bronze sculpture from 1878-1881 depicting a young ballerina in real clothing, shattered the artist's auction record at $41.6 million during Christie's May 2022 sale from the Anne H. Bass Collection, exceeding its $20-30 million estimate.
- The original wax version, exhibited in 1881, sparked controversy for its unflinching realism, portraying 14-year-old Marie van Goethem with a tulle skirt, linen bodice, and hair ribbon, challenging 19th-century ideals of beauty.
- This cast, one of 28 bronzes produced posthumously from Degas's waxes, highlights the sculpture's enduring appeal, with prior sales like a 2015 Sotheby's example at $30.8 million underscoring rising demand for Impressionist works.
#AuctionUpdate From the Anne H. Bass Collection, Edgar Degas’s ‘Petite danseuse de quatorze ans’ broke the auction record of the artist tonight; price realized $41.6 million pic.twitter.com/Dn4JLCbWTB
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 12, 2022
2
1921-1938
2015 SOLD for £ 15.8M by Sotheby's
An example with no reference on the possible date was sold by Sotheby's for £ 15.8M on June 24, 2015, lot 14. Please watch the video shared by the auction house..
3
2009 SOLD for £ 13.3M by Sotheby's
A copy with a provenance history beginning in the 1930s was sold for £ 13.3M by Sotheby's on February 3, 2009, lot 8.
