Impressionism · 1874
Edgar Degas 1834–1917
Musée d'Orsay · Paris
Young dancers stretch, scratch and wait under an old ballet master's eye — Degas catches the labour behind the grace.
Watch the story
Watch the first minute here. The full film, with the painter, the history and a close reading of the details, is in Hear Art.
The rest of the story is in Hear Art
Unlock all 119 films with one purchase. Ten paintings are free. No subscription.
Free preview · first minute
Look closer
Choose a detail to move in close. The film reads every one of them aloud.
Chapter 1 of 7
You have stepped into a working rehearsal room, not a stage spectacle. Paris, eighteen seventy-four. Edgar Degas spent years earning access to the Paris Opéra, befriending its masters and dancers.
Here he tilts the floorboards dramatically upward, scattering a dozen girls across the room — resting, stretching, waiting — as if you have just walked in unannounced.
119 masterpieces, each with its own film, in eight languages. Ten are free; one purchase unlocks the rest. No subscription.
