Edgar Degas: Backstage Pass

Why do Degas’s ballet dancers so often appear to be caught off guard? Why are his figures cropped, his viewpoints awkward and his compositions so unexpectedly modern?

Behind these apparently fleeting glimpses of Parisian life lay an artist of extraordinary calculation, who worked and reworked his pictures to make them seem spontaneous. From backstage rehearsals and racecourses to laundresses and milliners, Degas turned the spectacle of modern life into an endless source of artistic invention. Drawing inspiration from photography and Japanese prints, he developed startling new ways of looking. Alongside the cityscapes of Caillebotte and the cabarets of Toulouse-Lautrec, Rose explores the fascinating world of modern Paris, where nothing was quite as casual as it seemed.