Dancer Leaving Her Dressing Room 1879

Edgar Degas made this pastel drawing of a dancer sometime in the late nineteenth century. The medium of pastel, compressed pigment in stick form, is interesting in itself. It allowed Degas to build up layers of subtle color, achieving a hazy, dreamlike effect. Look at the dancer’s tutu; it almost shimmers with light. Degas was fascinated by the ballet, not just as an art form, but as a world of labor. The tutus worn by dancers were complex pieces of apparel, produced in workshops by seamstresses who toiled for hours. It's intriguing to consider the relationship between the dancer and the maker of her costume, two different kinds of work brought together on the stage. So when you look at this drawing, don’t just see a pretty picture. Think about the many hands that contributed to the scene, and the social context that made it possible. This expanded view helps us to see how Degas’s art connects to larger issues of labor, class, and consumption.