Yellow Dancers (In the Wings)

Yellow Dancers (In the Wings) by Edgar Degas: Edgar Degas first painted dancers as an independent subject in 1871. He was to devote almost half his output as a…

What to notice

Look beyond the bright yellow costumes to the cropped dancers waiting at the edge of the stage; repetition turns anticipation into a pattern of bodies.

Discover

Edgar Degas first painted dancers as an independent subject in 1871. He was to devote almost half his output as an artist to this subject, observing countless performances and rehearsals at the Paris Opéra. Here he placed the viewer in the wings, as if among the elite Opéra subscribers who roamed and socialized backstage. Dance subjects allowed Degas to contemporize his lifelong interest in showing the human body in complex movement, shifting the scene from ancient history to modern Paris. He finished and signed t…