Impressionism has long been associated with specific kinds of emotional content as well as color choices. Many of the Impressionist painters that we know and love experimented with the changing light of the day, everyday subjects going about their business, and with different painting techniques that allowed for a new kind of feeling to be captured on canvas.
Some of the most beloved Impressionist art pieces have ballerinas as their subject matter. This is mostly due to the skill and influence of a few specific painters, but modern Impressionists also love to work with this kind of model. There are so many influential Impressionist art pieces with ballerinas that you should know about, as these pieces are highly influential to the Impressionist movement as a whole.
Impressionist Ballerina Art Pieces to Remember
1. The Dance Class by Edgar Degas
This is one of the most influential pieces of Impressionist art that is on display today. This lovely image depicts a group of young ballerinas practicing and rehearsing in the Paris Opera’s back rooms. The painting was actually created by Degas from memory, as the Paris Opera had burned down by the time this work was commissioned. This was the site where Degas created many of these most important works of art as he was friends with the ballet master at the time.
The work shows the creative brushstrokes and paint application typical of the Impressionist painting style and Degas as well. Degas spent a lot of time painting these kinds of scenes which included ballet dancers, and the sense of movement and connection between the subjects of the works is beautiful to see. One feels like the dancers are about to walk right out of the frame and dance across the room. This is one of the most influential pieces of Impressionist art that has ever been created, and it is worth seeing in person if you are ever in Paris and visiting the Musee d’Orsay.
2. L’Etoile by Edgar Degas
This beautiful painting depicts the experience of the prima ballerina on stage. The stage belongs to her alone, save for the dancers in the background and the man watching behind the curtain. Degas was careful to show the truth in all things, despite also revealing their beauty and fragility. This is one of the images that art experts believe Degas created, in part, to show the dark side of the ballerina’s life. These women were forced to fight for patronship and were expected to have male attention and support in order to maintain their status in the ballet.
This was the power of the Impressionist movement in so many ways. No longer were painters confined to showing boring portrait scenes or still-life scenes of fruit baskets. Now painters could show what everyday life was like for regular people or for those who came from the working class. This revelation of the dark side of the glamorous dancer’s life is seen in many of Degas’ works, and this makes them some of the most popular and influential Impressionist pieces that have ever been created.
Impressionists were concerned with the things that were beautiful and strange, and unique about life, and this kind of work shows clearly what was possible if painters were allowed to paint the things that they were truly interested in. There is so much energy and emotion in many of Degas’ most well-known art pieces, and this piece is one of the finest examples of these qualities.
3. The Figurative Series by Elena Bond
Russian-born Elena Bond creates beautiful works of modern Impressionism that are reminiscent of the power and beauty of Degas’ pieces. Her ballerina art works are emotional, show movement, and fairly leap with life from the canvas. The series focuses on the unposed figure, graceful in its casual nature and full of restrained energy and life. These paintings are an important part of the new Impressionist movement, and they are careful to make the most of the work of former Impressionists while also growing beyond what those works accomplished.
The series as a whole tells a story, but each unique piece speaks to the reality of the strain and magic that is dance. All of the paintings focus on the play of light and offer you the delight of Elena’s unique use of colors and paint application that create layers of dimension and generate a feeling of life in her works. Elena is the true inheritor of the Impressionist movement of old, and this series of works clearly shows her ability to make beautiful art that transcends time.
For those who have always wished they could own an original Impressionist piece, Bond’s work is the first and most obvious choice. She displays everything that makes painters like Degas brilliant, while also adding an effortless enjoyment of color and light, and three-dimensional space. The amount of life and energy that is contained in Bond’s works is exciting and special.
Impressionist Art Offers Access to Beauty and Emotion With Ease
There are so many kinds of subject matter that Impressionism is known for, but the ballerina works are some of the most well-known and special of these paintings. Due to the influential nature of Degas at the start of the Impressionist movement, his works became synonymous with everything special about Impressionist art. Today, the inheritors of the movement are creating beautiful Impressionist works that also feature dancers and ballerinas. These are works that the masters who started the movement would be delighted by.
Impressionist collections might feel incomplete without the addition of a modern interpretation of the ballerina Impressionist piece. You will find that all of these works are moving and inspiring and contain a sense of movement that is hard to capture in other kinds of painted works. For those who are inspired by this kind of painting, artists like Elena Bond can offer you the chance to collect your own Impressionist work that you will be able to display with pride in your home or gallery.
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