Degas’ Art and His Curious Relationship with Women

Exploring the work of Edgar Degas

Christopher P Jones is the author of How to Read Paintings, an introduction to some of the most fascinating artworks in art history.

The Dance Class (1874) by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas. 83.5 x 77.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, U.S. Image source The Met (open access)

Edgar Degas painted young ballet dancers with an almost obsessive curiosity. Nearly half of his oil paintings and pastel works depict ballerinas at the corps de…