Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas affected disdain toward the improvised outdoor landscape studies for which many of the Impressionists became known. He clung to the habit of drawing on location in preparation for his pictures and insisted on finishing in the studio routinely with models. Degas considered himself a Realist painter. He attempted to paint things as they were, versus how he perceived them to be. Still, the art world considers him an Impressionist artist as he adopted their loose strokes and play on light.
Degas and the ballet are virtually synonymous. Dancers, shown in every phase of their complex and demanding art form, make up more than fifty percent of his abundant output. He created approximately 1,500 paintings, monotypes and drawings.
He was aware, from an early point in his studies, of the exhaustion of the ballerinas, and the extent to which they pushed the limits of their bodies. He was further conscious of the brevity of a dancer’s career. Here the chaperone’s face still displays youthful features, yet she is more than likely an ex-dancer. The younger woman represents what her forlorn looking companion once was.

To see original: bit.ly/3o4o32n