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In
his monumental Four Dancers, Degas applied oil paint in a way that
closely imitates the matte
surface and loose application of pastel. He rendered the stage flat (directly behind the
dancers) in scumbled
blue-green pigment and then placed the complementary
red-orange of the dancers’ hair and bodices against this blue-green
background. The tutus are built up of broadly brushed color, while the girls’
arms and heads are outlined in dark pigment. Degas tops off the canvas with
short, quick strokes that break up the contours of the four figures. Based
on photographs of a model in different poses, Four Dancers may represent
one ballerina moving through space. Compare this larger impressionist canvas, which was made late in the artist’s career, to his first rehearsal painting. |
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