“Two Dancers On A Stage” is just one of the many ballet themed paintings of Degas, many of which are incredibly beautiful. When painting, he used mainly oil paints, pastels, or water colours; in the painting I have chosen he used oil. I have admired Degas’ work for a while, mainly since I visited the “Degas and the ballet” exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts, London, and chose “Two Dancers On A Stage” print from the shop.
This was, and still is, one of my favourites of his, mainly I think due to the colours. The deep shades of green in the background offer contrast to the whites, pinks, and yellows of the dancers. Also, the fact that Degas has chosen to incorporate some of the dark green into the ballerinas (especially on the skirt of the dancer on the right) links the two aspects of the painting together, as well as providing the dancers with darker shading (something some other artists shy away from doing) and so more shape.
Cutting the edge of the stage out of the painting also adds interest as it causes the viewer to question “who is watching?” The dancers look peaceful and content, however we will never know if this is merely due to the fact that they are confident with their performance, or due to the fact that they are just practicing.
Recently I have rediscovered this print to put up on my wall and it truly is a fascinating painting. The colours are so beautiful that you can appreciate it at a glance, yet also there is a lot more to it, meaning I could be content looking at it for hours.
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