Two Dancers in Yellow and Pink 1910

Edgar Degas made "Two Dancers in Yellow and Pink" with pastel, probably layering one color over another to build up a felt sense of the scene. I mean, it’s not just "finished," is it? It’s more like a record of looking. The texture is so immediate, you can almost feel the powdery softness of the pastel. The way Degas lets the strokes build up, especially around the tutu, gives this incredible sense of volume. Look at the dancer adjusting her shoe, that area is so intimate, so full of quiet concentration. The marks are scratchy and soft at the same time. It reminds me a little of the way Philip Guston would build up forms with these chunky marks. Both artists were just trying to capture something real and human. It’s like they’re saying, "Here’s a world, but it’s not fixed, it’s always becoming."