Degas and the Dance [Anglais] [Broché]

Grade 2-5-Degas created more than a thousand ballet pictures during his career. He spent hours behind the scenes at the Paris Opera and had dancers pose in his studio. Most of them were poor, working-class girls, hence the nickname "petits rats." He illustrated the hard work behind the finished product, showing ballerinas rehearsing, warming up, stretching, and even waiting before an exam. Just as the dancers practiced the same positions over and over again, so did Degas draw them repeatedly. Full-color reproductions of sketches and preparatory drawings are included as well as finished paintings in oil and pastel. Rubin's narrative focuses exclusively on the artist and the dance, with additional biographical material included at the end. Quotes from the painter and his friends enliven the text. The bibliography includes books about ballet as well as about Degas. This is a lovely book, one for dancers as much as for art appreciation.
Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à l'édition Relié .

Obsessed by the dance world, Edgar Degas (1834-1917) sketched, painted, and sculpted dancers for nearly 50 years. This catalog, an irresistible combination of dance, art, and scholarship, accompanies an exhibition in Detroit (until January 2003) and Philadelphia (February 12-May 11) that is destined for surefire success. Beyond the gorgeous reproductions of 144 paintings, drawings, and sculptures, eight original and probing essays delve into the artist's working methods backstage sur la sc ne at the Paris Op ra and the evolution of his prolific dance oeuvre. Written by curator and former dancer DeVonyar and noted Degas scholar Kendall, the text is detailed and illuminating. Historic photographs of dancers, rehearsals, ballet masters, theaters, sets, and costumes are used liberally to connect period dance culture to the art. Visually exciting and ambitious in scale and focus, this is an essential purchase for academics, museums, and most public libraries.
Russell T. Clement, Northwestern Univ. Lib., Evanston, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edgar Degas' fascination with the ballet is legendary. What is less well known, and what this beautifully illustrated volume shows so well, is that many of his works are the result of an intimate link with the Paris Opera. Kendall, an art historian and recognized authority on Degas, and DeVonyar, an independent curator and former dancer, have taken the myths that have grown up around Degas' paintings and career and attempted to replace them with factual sources for his work. Degas' personal knowledge of the dancers, understanding of the dance and its techniques, connection with both the old and new opera houses, and free access to rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, and other backstage areas are explored in detail in a successful effort to understand how he came to portray the ballet as intimately as he did. Books about Degas abound. What makes this one fresh and unique is its inclusion of early and little-known sketches, and focus on how and why Degas came to prefer depicting backstage reality rather than dance itself. Lauren Roberts
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

"An irresistible combination of dance and art...visually exciting in scale and focus."

Among the supreme masterpieces of 19th-century art are Edgar Degas's dramatic, incisive, and often brilliantly colored pictures of the ballet. Yet despite his enormous popularity as the foremost artist of the dance-with more than half his vast body of paintings, pastels, drawings, and sculptures devoted to the on- and off-stage activities of ballerinas-this is the first major exhibition and catalogue to illuminate the theme in its historical context.

This authoritative book presents much new material about Degas as an artist and his relationship with the ballet of his day. Far more knowledgeable about the training and technique of dancers than has previously been realized, Degas is shown responding to numerous ballet productions at the Paris Opéra, to the shadowy life of the wings, and to the daily routines of the classroom. With huge crowds expected to throng the exhibition venues at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art , this lavish, richly illustrated volume should fascinate a wide audience of art- and dance-lovers alike

Explores the life and work of the nineteenth-century French artist who devoted most of his artwork to the subject of ballet. --Ce texte fait référence à l'édition Relié .