Dancer Stretching
c. 1882-85
Edgar Degas was obsessed with capturing the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes reality of ballet dancers, and this piece is a perfect example. Instead of a polished stage performance, we see a dancer mid-stretch, her arm reaching skyward while the other rests wearily on her head, looking almost exhausted. The loose, chalky strokes give the figure a sense of fleeting movement, typical of the Impressionist desire to capture a candid moment in time. Degas famously said he wanted to look at people 'as if you were looking through a keyhole,' and here we get an intimate, unposed glimpse into the grueling physical demands of 19th-century ballet.
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