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Why
did Degas produce so many similar paintings in this frieze format?
While they were not made to be hung together as a decorative frieze,
the paintings do take on a decorative, rather than a narrative, aspect
when shown side-by-side. |
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The dancers’ extended limbs alternate with the empty spaces
in the rehearsal room to create a rhythm between the groups of figures
and the space itself. Degas theorized that the intervals between
figures and space were the basis for creating ornament; his forty
frieze paintings are an extended examination of this theory.
 
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