Painter who painted ballerinas
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Who didn’t want to be a ballerina when they were younger? Ballerinas are the epitome of grace, elegance and poise. They have also been a favourite subject of artists through the ages. From Degas to Matisse, dancers have long been admired by the visual art world. So, here are 10 of the most gorgeous ballerinas from art history.
To Douse The Devil For A Ducat, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 2015
A huge retrospective exhibition of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s work has just opened at London’s Tate Modern. Some of the highlights are her paintings of ballet dancers, with this particular one being super dreamy. We just love the joy that these ladies emanate while dancing together.
The Rehearsal, Degas, 1873
Perhaps the most famous painter of dancers ever, Degas will always be associated with ballet. It’s hard to pick an absolute favourite by the master, but we do love this image of these ballerinas at rehearsal.
Les Sylphides, Ernst Oppler, 1915
Les Sylphides is an iconic ballet
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Degas' Ballerinas
Feature image: Edgar Degas, Blue Dancers, 1899, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia. Detail
Degas' Ballerinas
Like many young girls who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, I first encountered Edgar Degas’ ballerinas on a school field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. My AP art history teacher was an eccentric woman who prided herself on the ability to challenge the notions of our unmolded, ung, sheltered minds. Bringing us on a field trip to the Art Institute must have been like her own personal form eller gestalt of protest, an opportunity to show us how to “stick it to the man.”
Not that the Art Institute is a particularly political place in natur on the surface, but inom admire her tenacity to want to open our worldview in whatever school-approved way she could. As our group made our way through the echoing halls of the museum, she continued to spout her ramblings on the pitfalls of creativity and character and the moralities behind the canvases before us. L
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The Scary Truth Behind Degas's Ballet Paintings
Known for his whimsical Impressionist portrayals of ballet dancers, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas is a household name. The whirs of softly colored tutus and strokes of pink to flush each figure’s cheeks evoke a sense of joyful voyeurism, as if each viewer of the painting was sitting in the auditoriums depicted. Behind the glitz, glamor and youthful innocence, however, lies a darker truth. With Artsper, dive into the scary story behind the iconic Degas ballet paintings.
Some history
It’s important to view Edgar Degas’s ballet paintings in the context of the French social scene at the time of their painting. Picture it: it’s the 1870s in Paris, the Belle Époque. It’s a time of peace, prosperity and great economic growth following the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Shopping centers are opening across the city as fashion, art and culture become synonymous with Paris. The construction of the famed Parisian