Ballerinas paintings by Edgar Degas

Degas ballerinas is a popular topic within impressionist, with French artist Edgar Degas having produced a host of impressive works covering the stylish and delicate ballerinas that were included in many of his paintings. Those interested in the career of Edgar Degas can also find more Degas paintings here. Edgar Degas has become seen by many as one of the most talented French artists since the Middle Ages and his work is still extremely popular today.

Edgar Degas was famous for painting several different topics within his career but it is certainly his series of ballerina dancers that is what he is best remembered for now. The qualities with which he captured these beautiful scenes plus the sheer amount of output that he got through on this topic has ensured that no other artist is better known within this genre. The feminine beauty of the ballerina dancer series have also attracted many within the art public who find women generally under respresented within art.

The large amount of Ballerina oil paintings and pencil drawings produced by Edgar Degas meant that the artist was able to truly experiment with all sorts of different poses, outfits and settings, using both single dancers and also group of dancers to achieve different effects. Degas was a skilled artist who could take advantage of different art mediums which allowed him to try out ballerina scenes within pencil drawings and full scale deep oil paintings.

Edgar Degas achieved success with his ballerinas thanks to a hard working ethic that led to him creating large numbers of study pieces in order to make sure that he recreated each pose as accurately as possible, with the human anatomy being respected as one of the biggest challenges for any artist to do well, with few ever achieving true academic acceptance for their work in this competitive genre. Degas is one who did achieve great respect for his contributions to portraiture and his use of colour helped to make the most of his anatomical skills.

Dancers in Blue features several ballerinas in a relatively blurred, impressionist style that leaves the viewer intrigued and wanting more. The stylish blue outfits were selected specifically by Degas as he knew they would lift the painting through the vibrancy of colour which is always an integral element of any good impressionist painting. Several other works by Degas also make use of this shade of blue from ballerina dresses.

Edgar Degas is one in another long line of influential French painters, with France playing a very important role within European history, particularly since the end of the Italian Renaissance. The best time for French art is probably the impressionist movement, with several artists like Degas coming towards the end of that period, taking in it's important contributions and adding in their own ideas and techniques.

Four Ballerinas on the Stage is a bright painting which replaces the blues as seen previously in Dancers in Blue with a slightly more lilac tone for the dresses of the ballerinas. Other ballerinas in the group have pink skirts instead and the tightly huddled group together complement each other perfectly for this composition, with the artist clearly having carefully selected the outfits to fit his painting style.

Edgar Degas differed in the way that he depicted ballerinas in his paintings, with sometimes choosing to go for a blurred, low detail style that is almost abstract, whilst at other times offering great detail which is perhaps nearer realism than impressionism. Most consider Degas as an impressionist painter but it is fair to argue that he didn't fit perfectly into any art genre thanks to his breadth of skill and confidence to try new techniques and ideas whenever he could.

Green Dancer again brings Degas' colours to the fore, with a flurry of activity in this painting aided by the green array of ballerina dresses. The colours within the foreground are contrasted to the dresses of the dancers behind them who are added purely as background supporting items that sit in browns that complement and brighten the greeny blues in front. Most academics agreed that Degas was a true master of colour, above all else within his career.

The paintings of Edgar Degas have become amongst the most popular choices for reproductions of any French artist in recent years thanks to the way in which his key topics of ballerina dancers and horses have very strong followings, with Degas being seen as the key painter to have covered each. French art's own status during the period of Degas was exceptionally high within the art world and it is impressive that this artist managed to rise to the top with such competition.

Ballerinas Sketch

Dancer on the Stage

Ecole de Danse

Dancer in Front of a Window

Danseuse

List of Famous Edgar Degas Ballerinas Paintings

Look below for a substantial list of the best Edgar Degas paintings that are featured throughout this website.

• Ballet Rehearsal
• Dancer with a Bouquet of Flowers (Star of the Ballet)
• Stage Rehearsal
• Dancers at The Bar
• The Dance Class (La Classe de Danse)
• Ballet Rehearsal on Stage
• Blue Dancers
• Dance Class
• Dancing Class
• Two dancers on the stage
• Dance school
• The Dance lesson
• The Dance foyer at the Opera
• Four Dancers
• The Star
• Dancers Practising at the Bar
• Dancer at the Photographers

More Edgar Degas Ballerinas Paintings

Disclaimer: Degasballerinas.com is a fan website dedicated to the dance and ballerina based paintings and art prints produced by famous French painter Edgar Degas, and is in no way an official website for painter Degas, nor does it claim to be. The Estate of Edgar Degas and their presence hold all necessary copyrights and licences for all of his paintings and other works. All ballerina prints, paintings and photos included in Degasballerinas.com are provided as an affiliate to Art.com who hold necessary permissions.