Edgar degas paintings of ballerinas

Edgar Degas was one of the founding artists of Impressionism, however, he didn’t like the term and preferred to call it “Realist” or “Independent”. Ballet dancers were one of his main subjects.

“People call me the painter of dancing girls,” Degas once told Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard. “It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.” Here are eight of the most beautiful Degas ballerinas that he is so famous for.

1.

The Dancing Class

This is the first of Degas‘ ballerinas’ scenes.

Edgar degas paintings of ballerinas names

The dancer in the center is Joséphine Gaujelin, who later became an actress at the Gymnase, a theater known for its comedies and popular dramas. Gaujelin posed in a dance costume for a number of drawings when Degas worked on his first ballet pictures.

Why ballet subjects? Among other reasons, they were easier to sell, and Degas needed money.

2. Musicians in the Orchest