Degas's Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint

Degas's Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint by Rathbone, Eliza. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780300176322.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was a passionate devotee of ballet—he knew the dancers, the music, the choreography. He also knew the work involved in the life of the dancer, the endless rote and repetition of steps to achieve supreme grace, agility, and expression. Degass Dancers at the Barre traces ballet in Degass art from the 1870s to 1900. Bringing together carefully chosen paintings, drawings, pastels, prints, and sculptures from some of the worlds finest collections, this book celebrates The Phillips Collections Dancers at the Barre (early 1880s–c. 1900) as a crowning achievement in the artists prodigious career. Phillips Chief Curator Eliza Rathbone details Degass intricate process behind his late masterpiece and Head of Conservation Elizabeth Steele presents fascinating discoveries from the paintings recent conservation. National Gallery of Art object conservators Shelley Sturman and Daphne Barbour discuss Degass sculptures, and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon reflects on Degas in the context of ballet today. Full-color reproductions of the works in the exhibition—accompanied by images of related works, notes from the technical analysis of additional works by Degas in the Phillips Collection, and a detailed chronology of the artists life—reveal the impressionist masters complex exploration of the figure and devotion to dance.