Edgar Degas - Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage [c.1874]

Edgar Degas - Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage [c.1874], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

There are three similar versions of this composition. The largest, painted in grisaille (Musée d'Orsay, Paris), was shown in the first Impressionist exhibition, in 1874. The two other works, tentatively dated the same year, are in the Metropolitan's collection. This painting probably preceded the version in pastel, which is more freely handled. Preparatory drawings exist for almost every figure in the rehearsal compositions.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil colours freely mixed with turpentine, with traces of watercolor and pastel over pen-and-ink drawing on cream-coloured wove paper, laid down on bristol board and mounted on canvas, 54.3 x 73 cm]