Dancers on Set

Edgar Degas most prominently known for his illustrations of ballerinas does not upset viewers through the piece Dancers On Set.

The artwork highly resembles the artist's other famous pieces such as Dancers Against A Stage Flat, A Grecian Dance, and Four Dancers. These stunning artworks hold brilliant elements of the movement through dance. Edgar Degas is one of the most prominent artists who is able to capture such life within his work. His contemporaries Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet were also gifted artists who were able to capture this lively feel throughout their work. Dancers On Stage showcases two young ballerinas performing their act on stage for the audience. The artist’s work greatly showcases these different moments prior, during, and after performing. This pastel piece showcases ballerinas during their performance immersed within the act.

Edgar Degas usually brought the viewer’s attention to a primary ballerina throughout his work. This is seen within his painting Lowering The Curtain that seizes the viewer’s attention on the primary ballerina. This artwork similarity does so as the audience's face is brought towards the ballerina in pink. Edgar Degas is a brilliant artist as he is able to steal the viewer's attention towards a specific point within his painting subconsciously. He does this through a multiple number of elements such as form, colour, technique, and detailing. Further examples of the beauty of impressionism can be found in the work of Manet, with the likes of The Grand Canal of Venice, The Monet Family and Olympia.

The viewer automatically looks onto the pink ballerina as her attire differs from the rest of the painting. Since the stage is based in hues of blue, the blue ballerina’s costume merged into the rest of the painting. While the viewer is still easily able to make out that there is a figure there, they prefer to look at the dominate ballerina. Similarly, Degas uses an ample amount of detailing to showcase the characteristics of the ballerina in pink. Her face is shown to the viewer from a side profile that captures her face. Her small lips and dark large eyes look into the audience in an intense stare. However, compared to the other ballerina, no details are presented to the viewer.

The final technique that the artist uses to grab the attention of the viewer onto the pink ballerina is by simply smudging the blue ballerina into the background. It seems as if Degas has outlined her body and form, and then simply smudged her body into a blur. While it’s still evident that a ballerina is there, the viewer can’t tell any more details. All of these critical elements showcase the masterful work of Degas able to steal a viewer’s attention onto the critical points he wants to show. The pink ballerina is truly stunning and deserves to grab the attention of anyone looking onto her. She gently leans towards the audience as she opens her arms to the side holding them up.

Her feet are placed in a specific formation preparing to stand onto her toes. The rest of the background of the painting is covered in shades of green and blue to resemble a forest at night. Similarity the floor of the artwork is covered in a deep army green shade still in the same colour scheme as the background. While it’s difficult to pin point whether the artist had deliberately smudged the blue ballerina out of the frame to bring attention onto the dominant ballerina. Or rather if it was an accident, the viewer is possessed by her grace and lively form. It can be argued that even if the blue ballerina was created in the exact detailing as the pink ballerina, she would still be forgotten into the background as the other ballerina steals the attention.