Provenance
Théodore Duret [1838-1927], Paris; (his sale, Galerie George Petit, Paris, 19 March 1894, no. 12); purchased by (Durand-Ruel, Paris); transferred 27 February 1895 to to (Durand-Ruel, New York); sold 31 December 1928 to (Alex Reid & Lefèvre, Glasgow and London);[1] possibly sold 1929 to D.W.T. Cargill [1872-1939]. [2] (Carroll Carstairs Gallery, New York); sold 3 June 1948 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[3] bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] Information regarding Durand-Ruel's acquisition and disposition of the painting according to a letter dated 20 December 1977, in NGA curatorial files.
[2] A painting of this subject, very close in dimensions to the NGA picture, listed in
Reid & Lefèvre Pictures Sold, sheet no. 146, #274/28 B 1642, as acquired December 1928 from Durand-Ruel and sold to Cargill in April 1929. (Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 283). The Reid & Lefèvre painting is dated 1882, and a Reid & Lefèvre label on the back of the NGA picture likewise gives this date. There are no Degas paintings included in Cargill's estate sale held at Christie's, London, 2 May 1947.
[3] Date and source of Mrs. Bruce's acquisition according to her records, now in NGA curatorial files.
Accession Number
1970.17.25
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 24.2 x 18.8 cm (9 1/2 x 7 3/8 in.) | framed: 43.5 × 38.1 × 9.53 cm (17 1/8 × 15 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
Dancers Backstage (c. 1876-1883) captures the reality behind the spectacle of Parisian ballet—the dressing rooms, the corridors, and the moments of preparation that preceded the performance that audiences saw. The backstage subject was one of Degas's most characteristic contributions to modern art, revealing the working conditions of the dancers who made the ballet possible. The 1876-83 date places this during Degas's most intensive engagement with ballet subjects, when he was painting the Opera's dancers from every angle—on stage, in rehearsal, and backstage. Degas's treatment of the backstage subject demonstrates his ability to find artistic significance in the unglamorous spaces that conventional art typically ignored: the backstage corridor, the dressing room, and the informal moments when dancers prepared for the performance that would make them visible. The painting likely shows the dancers in the unselfconscious moments before or after performance—.contrasting images that reveal the person behind the performer. This contrast between public spectacle and private reality was central to Degas's ballet art, and his backstage paintings were among the first works in Western art to reveal the working conditions of performers.
Cultural Impact
Degas's backstage paintings influenced how the reality behind theatrical spectacle was represented in modern art, establishing the backstage as a significant artistic subject. The paintings influenced later artists who similarly revealed the working conditions of performers, from Toulouse-Lautrec to the present. The Dancers Backstage influenced how the Paris Opera's institutional culture was documented, revealing the conditions that produced the spectacle.
Why It Matters
This painting matters because it reveals the working conditions behind the ballet spectacle—the reality that audiences paid to avoid seeing. Degas's backstage paintings argued that art's responsibility is to show the truth of experience rather than the surface of spectacle, and this commitment to revealing what was hidden made him one of modern art's most important ethical innovators.
