Edgar Degas
On this day in 1834, Edgar Degas, a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings, was born.
Obsessed by the ballet, Edgar Degas created hundreds of paintings and sculptures that captured the harsh realities of 19th-century dancers' lives and hinged on his voyeuristic fascination with the pain ballet inflicted on female bodies. This work and its variant in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, represent the most ambitious paintings Degas devoted to the theme of the dance. In the painting, 24 women, ballerinas and their mothers, wait while a dancer executes an attitude for her examination. Jules Perrot a famous ballet master, conducts the class. The imaginary scene is set in a rehearsal room in the old Paris Opéra, which had recently burned to the ground.
Have a great weekend!
P.S. These photographs taken by Edgar Degas will sweep you off your feet!