On the Stage
1876–77
Medium
Pastel and essence over monotype on cream laid paper, laid down on board
Dimensions
59.2 × 42.8 cm (23 5/16 × 16 7/8 in.)
Classification
pastel
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81531
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Edgar Degas depicts seven dancers performing in a ballet. The gestures of the women’s raised arms and feet capture the actions, forms, and poses of the corps de ballet (the ensemble, or chorus, of a ballet company that performs in groups). To heighten the sense of motion and spectacle, Degas smudged the edges of the forms where the dancers’ dresses meet the stage.
Art Historical Context
Edgar Degas’s *On the Stage* (1876–77) captures a fleeting moment in the Parisian theater world that fascinated the artist throughout his career. Created during the height of the Impressionist era, the work reflects Degas’s keen interest in modern urban life—particularly the ballet and opera—where he observed both the glamour of performance and the unseen labor behind it. Rather than idealizing his subjects, Degas often portrayed dancers from unusual angles, emphasizing movement, artificial stage lighting, and the contrast between public spectacle and private effort. The medium itself is central to the work’s luminous quality. Degas combined monotype printing with layers of pastel, a technique that allowed him to achieve rich textures and delicate color gradations while retaining the spontaneity of drawing. This experimental approach suited his desire to record transient effects of light and motion, transforming a seemingly simple backstage or onstage view into a sophisticated study of form and atmosphere. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of prints and drawings, *On the Stage* exemplifies Degas’s innovative fusion of traditional draftsmanship with modern subject matter, inviting viewers to appreciate both the beauty of the performance and the artist’s technical mastery.
About the Artist
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas · 1834–1917
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, born on July 19, 1834, in Paris to a prosperous banking family, was the eldest of five children. His mother, Célestine Musson, a Creole from New Orleans whose father Germain Musson had roots in Haiti, died when Degas was thirteen, leaving his father Augustin and unmarried uncles to guide him. Educated at the elite Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he earned a baccalauréat in...