ArtistsNetwork.com 67What was it about the world
behind the curtains that Degas
found so compelling? “Degas deeply
admired the performers and how
they created art by honing their
bodies, voices and musical talents
into tools of expression,” Jones
says. “He felt a genuine camaraderie
and connection with them and had
great respect for their high level of
discipline because he was equally
committed to his craft as a painter.
You can see this appreciation in how
few full performances he actually
depicts. He’s not interested in the
spectacle the way some of his con-
temporaries were, but rather was
endlessly fascinated by the mechan-
ics of how theater came together.”
That curiosity was coupled with
an unflinching honesty: Degas was
particularly keen on showing the
nonglamorous, messy, mundane and
even stressful moments of reality
that preceded the technically precise
and seemingly flawless theatrical
presentations.
INVENTIVE
REALISM
Part of what fueled Degas’ prolific
output and proficiency in gather-
ing abundant documentation of
the Paris Opéra was his fastidious
approach to capturing reality on
canvas. Eschewing academic realism,
Degas wasn’t interested in exacting
detail or verisimilitude in his paint-
ings, especially in the quick sketches
that he used to capture the fleeting
movements and postures of the per-
formers. Full of immediacy and life,
these works succeed in translating the
dual tension between frenetic activity
and hushed anticipation that hangs in
the balance backstage.
In some of his larger finished
works, Degas infused his on-site
observations with informed mem-
ories and imagined conclusions to
the scenes and stories he saw and
overheard, sometimes only in part.
Whether in oil, pastel, charcoal or
monotype, these inventive works
were where Degas’ precise obser-
vation, memory and imagination
coalesced to greatest effect.