Edgar Degas

Photograph by Dale DiMauro

Last month when my wife and I visited Philadelphia, PA, we saw this on exhibit at the Barnes Foundation. This of course, is an Edgar Degas(1834-1917) oil pastel, titled Group of Dancers. created around 1900. 

The striking color, sense of movement and concentration of the dancers drew my attention. The dancers activity carries right off the paper, or board in this case. When I learned that this oil pastel consists of three pieces of paper pieced together and adhered overall to a thin paper board, for me, it symbolized the energy in the room. 

Unless Degas had models to draw from it can be quite challenging to capture the postures of dancers who constantly are on the move. Nevertheless, I love the wash of color.