From the 1880s Degas was recognized as a master of pastel - a medium, highly popular in the eighteenth century, which he had done much to revive. Often, as here, he worked the pastel pigment in successive layers, creating complex juxtapositions of hues and textures. The ethereal dancers seem to be moving onto or off the stage; the tree that divides the composition at left is a painted theater prop.

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