Dancers in the Rehearsal Room with a Double Bass

Dancers in the Rehearsal Room with a Double Bass

Dancers in the Rehearsal Room with a Double Bass

Artist:Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date:ca. 1882–85
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:15 3/8 x 35 1/4 in. (39.1 x 89.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

Degas used an elongated frieze format for more than forty rehearsal scenes made over the course of two decades. This is one of the first such works; it was preceded by The Dance Lesson (ca. 1879, National Gallery of Art, Washington). Here, the angled wall in the foreground sets off the striking juxtaposition of a double bass and a seated dancer, bent over to tie the laces of her slipper. Technical analysis reveals that Degas painted the complex composition in virtually a single campaign with only minor revisions.

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