This is a free virtual exhibition of 15 works by Edgar Degas that you can walk through in your browser, on desktop or phone, with nothing to install. Among the works on view are The Star, his image of a ballerina in the spotlight, and The Millinery Shop.
About Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was a French painter, printmaker and sculptor, and one of the founding figures of Impressionism, although he preferred to call himself a realist. Trained in the classical tradition and a lifelong admirer of Ingres, he began with history paintings and portraits before turning to modern Parisian life. He took part in seven of the eight Impressionist exhibitions, yet his art differed from that of his colleagues: he worked mostly indoors, valued drawing, and composed his pictures with great deliberation. Degas is best known for his dancers, whom he showed in rehearsal, backstage and on stage, but he also painted racecourses, cafés, laundresses and milliners. He was a master of pastel and experimented with monotype and sculpture, including the famous Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Failing eyesight shaped his late work, which grew broader and more vivid in color.
Highlights in this room
Young Spartan Girls Challenging Boys
An early history painting, it shows girls of ancient Sparta taunting a group of boys to compete with them. Rather than idealizing his figures, Degas gave them the lean, awkward bodies of ordinary Parisian teenagers. The subject occupied him for years, and it shows the classical training he would later bring to scenes of modern life.
Henri Degas and His Niece Lucie Degas (The Artist's Uncle and Cousin)
Degas painted this double portrait of family members, the elderly uncle seated with a newspaper and the young girl leaning on his chair. The quiet space between them and the muted colors suggest a shared moment of mourning and reflection. It shows his gift for portraying relationships through posture rather than expression alone.
The Millinery Shop
A woman in a milliner's workroom studies a hat she holds up, surrounded by others displayed on stands. Degas turned an everyday commercial scene into a study of concentration and craft, with the hats rendered almost like a still life. The tilted viewpoint and cropped composition are typical of his modern way of seeing.
The Star
A prima ballerina bows or finishes a pose in the spotlight, seen from above as if from a box at the Opéra. Behind her, in the wings, other dancers and a man in black wait half-hidden. The glowing costume and the soft blur of the stage show why his dance pastels became some of the most loved images of the nineteenth century.
How to enjoy the exhibition
- Walk up to a pastel to see it closer. Degas layered and hatched his pastel strokes, and the texture of the chalk is part of the effect.
- Notice the viewpoints. Many scenes are seen from above, from the side of the stage or from an unexpected angle, much like a snapshot.
- Compare the dancers. Yellow Dancers (In the Wings), On the Stage, Two Dancers and Frieze of Dancers show the same world from many positions.
- Click a work to read its label. It helps you move between his early portraits, his ballet scenes and rarer works such as the landscape Estérel Village.
- Look at the drawing underneath. Even in color, Degas remained a draftsman first, and the contours of arms, necks and feet reward careful attention.
New to the format? Here is a short guide to what a virtual gallery is. For the painters closest to him, continue to the Manet virtual exhibition and the Toulouse-Lautrec virtual exhibition.
Create a room like this for your own work
This room was built with Xibit360, and the same tools are open to working artists. You can light and frame each piece, set the mood with themes and layouts, exhibit video works alongside still images, and embed the finished room on your own website so visitors can walk through it without leaving your page. It is free to start, and upgrades are one-time purchases with no subscription.
Know an artist who should see this?
If you know a painter, pastelist or figure artist whose work deserves a setting like this, send them this page. They can walk through the Degas room above to see what is possible, then imagine their own work hung in a space of its own.
FAQ
Is the Degas virtual exhibition free?
Yes. You can open it in your browser for free.
Can I view it on my phone?
Yes. The same walkable space opens on desktop and on phone, with no app to install.
Why did Degas paint so many ballet dancers?
Dance let Degas study the human body in motion, under theatrical light, from constantly changing angles. The Paris Opéra gave him a modern subject with endless variety, from rehearsal to performance, and he returned to it for most of his career.