Orchestra Musicians 1872

Edgar Degas painted “Orchestra Musicians” with oil on canvas, likely in the 1870s. The dancers on stage are not the focus here. Instead, Degas draws our attention to the dark-suited men of the orchestra in the pit below. In late 19th-century Paris, the ballet was a social institution with rigid class boundaries. While ballerinas were admired on stage, they came from working-class backgrounds and were often vulnerable to exploitation. The men of the orchestra represent the upper classes who frequented the opera. Degas subverts this social hierarchy by putting the ballet in the background and foregrounding the orchestra. He critiques the male gaze and questions the power dynamics within the Parisian art world. To understand Degas' painting fully, one can explore archival materials, such as theater programs, social commentaries, and critical reviews of the time. These sources offer a broader historical and social context for interpreting this work of art.