Shown at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, Edgar Degas's 'The Ballet Class' depicts young ballerinas of the Paris Opéra receiving instruction from the veteran maestro Jules Perrot in a rehearsal room on the rue Le Peletier. Instead of the glamour of performance, Degas presents fatigue, distraction, and the disciplined labour that precedes the stage — a radically modern take on the ballet as a subject. The angled floor, cropped figures, and high viewpoint betray his study of photography and Japanese woodblock prints.

Exhibition Venue

Musée d'Orsay

Paris, France