The painting above is titled “Two Dancers in the
studio” and was painted by French Impressionist artist, Edgar Degas around 1875
.The painting appears to be set in a dancing studio with
2 young dancers, one central and one receding and a
dark character almost silhouetted into the background.
The central dancer is on her tip toes in the ‘fifth
en haut’ or ‘cinquieme’ pose- the fifth and last pose in the classic ballerina
sequence suggesting that she is at the end of her dance , whilst the receding dancer (with a blue bow belt) appears to be in the ‘En
primeiere’ position, initiating her dance sequence.
Elements of contrast can be observed in this
painting, for instance, the start and end of the dance sequences of the dancers
(as just discussed), the colours of the bow belts worn by the dancers, which
are opposites on the colour wheel and the top left and bottom right corners of
the painting are complete contrasts on the light scale.
This idea of contrast is significant in the
painting- through which Degas is able to describe form and flow. What is
interesting is that Degas aimed to capture natural motion and body flow in his
paintings of the ballet world.
Degas has used an array of sepia colours in the painting, utilizing the brightest
of tones for the window dancers’ skin. In contrast, the darkest of sepia tones
are shown on the looming figure in the far right of the painting.
It is clear to see that the Romantic Movement in art has influenced
Degas' painting as his dancers display such elegance and grace in their poise.
The way at which light is absorbed and gleams from the tutus may be a metaphor
for the dancers' radiance. They appear almost light and free, elements most
associated with Romanticism paintings. Romantic art such as 'Marie Taglioni' by
Richard lane and 'La Tempete by Pierre Auguste, additionaly displays elements
of lightness and freedom in female characters.
The central dancer takes up the most of the canvas and is painted with a
high contrast in her dynamic pose, emphasizing how she is the focal point of
the painting. Moreover, central dancer is 'en pointe' a move in which a ballet
dancer supports all body weight on the tips of her toes for an instant. This
may emphasize the dancer’s skill in her practice and Degas' skill as an artist
in capturing the pose before the dancer moves into another sequence.
Metaphorically, paleness and smoothness of the dancers skin (especially
challenging to illustrate, with the nature of oil pastels) could convey
the innocence of the young dancers. Arguably, they might be perceived as
ethereal creatures. In contrast, the dark character in the background can be
depicted as a male with a moustache. One might make the assumption that the
darkness represents the dark man's shadiness as a character, thus further
assumptions could be made that he could be preying on the young girls.
This would create an interesting thesis, as many of the ballet dancers
at the 'Palias Garnier Opera house to which Degas made his observations, were
young girls. It could be that this dark figure alludes to the sad truth to the
reality of these girls' lives. Many of them came from poor disadvantaged
families and were easy targets for financial exploitation and in some cases
sexual abuse. They were termed 'les rats' and were often preyed on by older and
wealthy men termed 'abonnes'.
Degas understood this dark side of ballet, and also emphasized it in his
sculpture ' Little dancer, aged fourteen' with a tattered tutu, if we look at
the painting with this in mind we can see the central dancer has us an
unsettled facial expression and her head is turned from the man in the right. It
is possible that Degas is portraying a subtle indication of the sombre truth of
Ballet girl’s lives).
Nonetheless, Degas was always able to depict the controversy between the
beauty of the Ballerinas when performing and the dark reality and corruption of
their lives when the curtain falls.
