Details

Object type

painting

Title

The Rehearsal

Artist/Maker

Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas artist

Culture/School

French

Place Associated

France, Paris, L'Opera (place depicted)

Date

circa 1874

Materials

oil on canvas

Dimensions

framed: 778 mm x 1046 mm x 115 mm; unframed: 584 mm x 838 mm

Description

The Rehearsal is one of Degas’ first paintings of the ballet. It was a subject he continued to paint for the rest of his life.

Although at first glance we feel that we have just happened upon this scene unfolding before our eyes, it is not at all realistic. Degas, unlike his Impressionist friends, rarely worked from life. Instead he worked from sketches, from memory and from his imagination. Despite this he has managed to capture a feeling of immediacy – the dancer almost hidden by the spiral staircase, the ankles descending the staircase and the woman on the right who is nearly cut in two.

Vincent van Gogh’s brother Theo bought this work in 1888 from fellow dealer Georges Petit for 5,220 French francs. Only a few weeks later he sold it for 8,000 French francs. William Burrell purchased the painting in July 1926 for £6500.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944

Collection

Burrell Collection: Pictures [Oils, Pastels and Watercolours]

ID Number

35.246

Location

Burrell Collection