Degas’ Art and His Curious Relationship with Women

<p><em>Christopher P Jones is the author of&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.chrisjoneswrites.co.uk/how-to-read-paintings/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>How to Read Paintings</em></a><em>, an introduction to some of the most fascinating artworks in art history.</em></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*OkZPBspA_kUTNVBFAV8KFA.jpeg" style="height:755px; width:700px" /></p> <p>The Dance Class (1874) by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas. 83.5 x 77.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, U.S. Image source&nbsp;<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438817?searchField=All&amp;amp%3BsortBy=Relevance&amp;amp%3Bwhat=Paintings&amp;amp%3Bhigh=on&amp;amp%3Bao=on&amp;amp%3BshowOnly=openAccess&amp;amp%3Bft=*&amp;amp%3Boffset=160&amp;amp%3Brpp=80&amp;amp%3Bpos=195" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">The Met</a>&nbsp;(open access)</p> <p>Edgar Degas painted young ballet dancers with an almost obsessive curiosity. Nearly half of his oil paintings and pastel works depict ballerinas at the&nbsp;<em>corps de ballet</em>&nbsp;at the Paris Op&eacute;ra.</p> <p>Many of the works focus on the backstage preparations: teaching classes, rehearsal and dressing room scenes. A backstage friend once noted, &ldquo;He comes here in the morning. He watches all the exercises in which the movements are analyzed . . . nothing in the most complicated step escapes his gaze.&rdquo;</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/thinksheet/the-misogynist-artist-who-was-obsessed-with-women-3bacb9003a0a"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>