''The Dance Lesson'' (sometimes known as ''The Dancing Lesson'') is an
oil on canvas painting by the French artist
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.
Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...
created around 1879. It is currently kept at the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
There is at least one other work by Degas by this title, also made in about 1879, which is a
pastel
A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...
.
Description
The painting is the first of a series of about 40 pictures that Degas painted in this horizontal, frieze-like format.
It measures .
[
To the far left is a ]double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
with an exhausted dancer wearing a bright orange shawl sitting on it.violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
-case, which although painted out, is still visible.[ In the centre of the painting is a dancer in a pink shawl sitting on a chair with another dancer, turned away, standing just behind her adjusting the dark coloured sash of her dress.][ To the far right, at the back of the room, is a group of dancers practising their moves in the light from a large window.][
The painting was carefully composed and shows the inspiration Degas drew from Japanese prints, with figures deliberately placed off-centre or cut off at unexpected angles and the large expanse of floor which appears to tilt upwards.][
]
Location and provenance
The painting ''The Dance Lesson'' is currently kept at the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
in Washington, D.C.Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American philanthropist and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall ...
, who purchased it in 1957.[
]
Relation to other paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art owns a painting titled ''Dancers in the Rehearsal Room with a Double Bass'', dated 1882–85, which is possibly the second painting in the sequence.[
File:Before_the_Ballet_A26468.jpg, ''Before the Ballet'' (1890/1892), National Gallery of Art
File:Ballet_Rehearsal_by_Edgar_Degas.jpeg, ''Ballet Rehearsal'' (''La salle de danse'', c.1885),Yale University Art Gallery
]
References
External links
''The Dance Lesson''
National Gallery of Art Washington DC. In-depth focus and examination of the 1879 painting.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dance Lesson, The
1879 paintings
Paintings by Edgar Degas
Paintings in the National Gallery of Art
Dance in art