The Dance Class, c.1873/76 Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Dance Class is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

The painting depicts a ballet classroom at the end of a strenuous rehearsal, populated by young dancers wearing layered white tutus and bright ribbons. One stands at the center, her posture slightly weary, while the figure of the ballet master, leaning on a cane, commands attention to the right. In the background, other students linger in small clusters, adjusting hair pieces or murmuring quietly, lending the scene a subdued yet dynamic energy.

Notice the restrained use of green on the walls, a subtle choice that unifies the composition while contrasting with the dancers’ pale costumes. The occasional dash of red, blue, and yellow in ribbons and hair pieces punctuates the otherwise muted palette. This balance of subdued coloration with sparing accents gently guides the viewer’s gaze and evokes the calm, disciplined environment of the studio.

Employing oil paints, the artist’s brushwork ranges from smooth, carefully blended passages on the figures to more visible strokes in the background and floor. This interplay between detailed rendering and sketch-like application accentuates each dancer’s individuality. Faces remain softly modeled, while the wispy edges of the tutus suggest a fleeting movement, as though one might catch a whisper of rustling tulle if standing in the same room.

Compositionally, the diagonal floorboards direct our eyes across the crowded space, underscoring the figures’ alignment and the teacher’s position near the painting’s right side. The open doorway reveals a partially lit corridor beyond, providing a distant focal point that pulls us further into the world of the opera’s backstage. The slightly elevated vantage point ensures that one senses the breadth of the studio, complete with its marble-framed doorway, tall mirrors, and expansive parquet floor.

In the context of 1870s Paris, ballet was both a refined art and a grueling regimen. The opera house, still located on the rue Le Peletier at this time, provided the artist with ample opportunity to observe dancers at their most unguarded moments. What emerges here is a meticulous study of rehearsal - a glimpse into the rigors of training, with fatigue and discipline subtly captured in the slouch of a shoulder or the downward gaze of an exhausted pupil. This quiet focus on ordinary gestures transcends the formalities of the stage, unveiling the rigorous heartbeat of the ballet world within the cool, measured atmosphere of the practice room.