DEGAS

Pretty cool hour this time round. We watched a documentary of Degas, the painter fascinated by ballerinas in the middle of the 19th century. Again, I do not know if I am making precise assumptions, but it seems to me that Degas' art and life represents (yet again) the turning point the 19th century was facing at the time: removal of monarchies with the replacement of governing bodies that would, at least in theory be a REAL representation of the people. Degas' artistic choice to focus on the unseen side of the glamourous ballet, seems to reflect somewhat this uprisal of the REAL. He chose to depict the life of the ballerinas in practice, and not on the stage, in other words he drew what the audience could not see. Aswell, i found it interesting how he chose to surreptitiously include the "patrons" of these young ballerinas in the paintings. The hierachical dominance of patriachal europe was hidden amongst his paintings as these girls depended heavily on the funds given by these men to survive in the world of Ballet. Most of these girls in order to get this money became "girlfriends" to these men, purely for financial reasons, again Degas introduced the reality behind such a seemingly beautiful and purely elegant way of life.