Dancers Practicing at the Barre by Edgar Degas - 1877 - 75.6 x 81.3 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art Dancers Practicing at the Barre by Edgar Degas - 1877 - 75.6 x 81.3 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dancers Practicing at the Barre

mixed media on canvas • 75.6 x 81.3 cm
  • Edgar Degas - 19 July 1834 - 27 September 1917 Edgar Degas 1877

The watering can, visible at left, was a standard fixture in ballet rehearsal rooms; water was sprinkled on the floor to keep dust from rising when ballerinas danced. Degas also used the watering can as a visual pun: its shape is mimicked by that of the dancer at right. Shown at the 1877 Impressionist exhibition, the painting was given by Degas to the collector Henri Rouart as a replacement for an earlier work (now lost), which the artist altered and accidentally destroyed.

Have a great new week! :)

P.S. See Dega's most beautiful ballerinas here <3