Ballet at the Paris opera

Ballerinas swirl across the stage in a haze of pink and white, their tutus dissolving into soft clouds of color. Edgar Degas painted this lively scene in 1877 using pastels, a medium that let him build up rich, layered strokes and work with speed. Ballet was something of an obsession for him, and over his lifetime he produced around 1,500 works connected to dance. The angle here is what really sets it apart. We are peering up from the orchestra pit, with the shadowy heads of the musicians looming at the bottom edge, giving the odd but thrilling sense that we have slipped into a real performance without being noticed.

Though Degas is usually counted among the Impressionists, he insisted on calling himself a realist. He was drawn to unguarded moments rather than polished poses, which explains why his dancers so often appear stretching, fixing their costumes, or simply lingering in the wings. That interest in real behavior gives the painting a natural, almost candid feeling. Warm stage light seems to hover over the whole scene, hinting at the excitement of an evening spent at the opera.