Fan Mount: Ballet Girls 1879

Editor: We’re looking at Edgar Degas’ "Fan Mount: Ballet Girls" from 1879, at The Met. It’s a watercolor and drawing, made for a fan, with these intriguing, blurred figures against this unusual palette. It almost feels unfinished and secretive. What draws your eye in this piece? Curator: That "unfinished" quality is precisely the allure, isn’t it? It's like catching a fleeting moment, a whispered secret from behind the scenes. Degas wasn't after photographic realism, thankfully. Instead, the watercolor bleeds and breathes. Think about the Japanese prints that were all the rage then; the flattened perspective, the cropped composition – Degas devoured them. He wasn't just painting ballet girls, was he? Editor: No, it's definitely more than that. It feels... intimate, like a backstage glimpse. Curator: Precisely! The muted tones, almost sepia-toned, create a sense of nostalgia even though it was contemporary at the time. Imagine the fan itself, carried by a woman, perhaps at the opera. Suddenly, this image comes alive in her hand. Does that make it more dimensional for you? Editor: It does! It transforms from a static image into something dynamic and performative, almost echoing the dancers themselves. So it’s not only Impressionistic but also incredibly deliberate in its design. Curator: Indeed! The negative space at the bottom, for example. At first glance, it might seem like a void, but it allows the figures to float and the composition to breathe. I see a dreamscape in this work; how about you? Editor: A dreamscape... I like that! The whole fan transforms. Thank you. Curator: And thank *you* for making me see that once again, afresh. Isn’t that what art is all about?