The Dance Class
1874 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
- Year
- 1874
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 83.5 × 77.2 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Impressionism
Some two dozen young dancers in white tutus and coloured sashes wait their turn in a rehearsal room at the Paris Opéra while the ballet master Jules Perrot, leaning on his stick, watches one girl perform; others stretch, scratch, adjust their earrings or chat with their mothers at the back. Degas painted it in 1874 for the opera singer Jean-Baptiste Faure, finishing it in 1876 after Faure complained of the delay. The room is imagined, since the old opera house had burned down, and Degas worked from models posed in his studio. The off-centre composition and the dancers cut by the frame give the sense of a glance rather than a staged scene. It has been in the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1987; a closely related version is in the Musée d'Orsay.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Dancers in white tutus with coloured sashes in a pale rehearsal room suit a bedroom, dressing room or girl's room at 16×24. Natural wood on a white wall; the near-square canvas looks right above a dresser or in a hallway of mirrors.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Impressionism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1874)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, kids room, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, anniversary, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Dance Class in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Dance Class painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.























