Dancer in Green

Dancer in Green is an arresting pastel work created by Edgar Degas between 1878 and 1888. This piece exemplifies the artist’s enduring fascination with the subject of dancing and the exclusive world of the Parisian ballet. Degas, often associated with Impressionism, preferred the designation Realist, approaching his subjects with meticulous observation and a candid eye. The chosen medium, pastel, allowed for a unique blend of drawing and painting, granting the surface a vibrant yet delicate texture capable of conveying rapid motion.

Degas utilized the pastel sticks to quickly capture movement and light, focusing intently on the individual figures of the dancers. The subject centers on a woman in a green costume, likely captured backstage or during a rehearsal, rather than in a formal stage presentation. The rich hue of the figure’s attire, which gives Dancer in Green its title, draws the viewer's attention to the fleeting moment of grace, while the light subtly illuminates her form. Degas consistently portrayed these women in unglamorous, unguarded poses, emphasizing the physical effort required for ballet. His focus on these intimate moments within the world of the opera defined a major theme of his mature career.

This expressive drawing highlights Degas’s unparalleled mastery of form and kinetic energy. The work is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it serves as a crucial example of 19th-century French art. As a celebrated work from this period, its imagery is widely recognized, and high-quality prints derived from public domain photographic sources ensure continued access to Degas’s influential ballet studies.