The Dance Class, 1874
Edgar Degas
Oil on canvas · 32 7/8 x 30 3/8 in. (83.5 x 77.2 cm)
Young ballerinas fidget and stretch while an old master looks unimpressed.
Degas takes us backstage into a ballet rehearsal, dancers stretching, fidgeting and adjusting slippers under an old master's eye. The high viewpoint and casual, cut-off figures feel snapped rather than posed — modern life caught mid-motion.
What you're looking at
Most of the dancers are not dancing. They scratch, yawn, adjust a slipper, twist a ribbon, and one leans on the piano while an old ballet master rests on his stick. Degas puts the viewpoint high and tips the floor toward us, and cuts figures off at the edges as a camera would — the whole point is that nobody has arranged themselves for us.
On a Frame TV
About 14:15, close to square. The clean crop would take the empty stretch of floor that gives the room its depth, so use the matted file. Warm and evenly lit, one of the more daylight-tolerant works here.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Visit it in New York →
- 4K master file (3840px+)
- Samsung Frame TV–ready crop
- Phone wallpaper crop
- Printable art card
Public domain · one .zip, no sign-up
More like this
Other works in the collection, starting with Edgar Degas.
