Degas' Obsession

Ballet scenes were a central theme in Edgar Degas’ career, yet Dancers Practising in the Foyer has long been difficult to place in relation to his other ballet paintings. The painting is immediately puzzling—seemingly not finished, with very unevenly applied paint layers, drastically different tones and a dominant shadow from a partially overpainted figure. These unexplained visual mysteries sparked what became an an extensive research project led by art historian Dr. Line Clausen Pedersen, in a collaboration between the Glyptotek and the Getty in Los Angeles.

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