Dancer with a bouquet of flowers (The Star of the ballet) 1878

Edgar Degas created ‘Dancer with a bouquet of flowers’ to capture a moment of performance within the Paris Opera. During the late 19th century, the Paris Opera embodied both artistic beauty and class divisions. Ballet dancers, often from impoverished backgrounds, navigated a rigid social hierarchy. Degas frequently depicted these dancers, capturing their grace and vulnerability. He once said, "It is very good to do what one sees in front of oneself." Here, we see the star dancer onstage, but from an unconventional, elevated viewpoint. While the bouquets of flowers suggest admiration, the angled perspective hints at the power dynamics at play. The male gaze was a significant force in the dancers’ lives, their careers often dependent on wealthy patrons. Degas’s work prompts us to consider the dancer's lived experience, caught between the stage's illusion and the realities of her position in society. Degas’s painting encourages us to reflect on the complexities of beauty, labor, and the social structures inherent in the art world.