Skip to main content

The Prima Ballerina by Edgar Degas


Prima Ballerina was painted in Paris around 1876 and represents a Ballerina from an angle of a catwalk behind the scenes. Edgar liked to paint scenes of such dancers and completed a number of noteworthy ballerina scenes. He sought to paint life through a keyhole in a way the audience will never see it. 

He was an impressionist which means he used obvious strokes, accurate depiction of light, the experience of time, and human experience (1). They sought to find a way to show life from a new vantage point. Their works were a radical departure from realism. 

This painting is actually not a painting in the traditional sense. It is a crayon type artistic work. This is not the same as the crayons of today but a chalk type instrument. It gives a softer image within the work and is sometimes considered difficult to work with. 

When I look at this painting I see an image of backstage life that others may not be familiar with. It is life in motion. The ballerina is engage is a graceful dance and appears to be fully engrossed in her art. The other characters are in blur much the same way you may experience it on a stage, a ball game, or other public activity when you are in the moment-Flow.

Flow is that special place where nothing else matters. You are simply taking in information and letting it go to create something new. Dancers, painters, sports players, actors, and many others have experienced the timelessness of flow. It is just a state of simply being and enjoying the activity without an reference to the outside world.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Meaning of A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost

A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost He halted in the wind, and — what was that Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost? He stood there bringing March against his thought, And yet too ready to believe the most. "Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said; And truly it was fair enough for flowers had we but in us to assume in march Such white luxuriance of May for ours. We stood a moment so in a strange world, Myself as one his own pretense deceives; And then I said the truth (and we moved on). A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves. The poem is one of seasons changing and the cycle of life. Each May the bloom comes out and brings life to the death of winter. The poem is about a single moment when the characters see that life has changed. The layers of meaning can be deep but on the surface it appears Robert Frost is discussing nature and its cyclical momentum.   Everything in nature moves through patterns. The poem indicates that

Art Review: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

The Kiss is Gustav Klimt’s most famous and well known painting. Produced in 1908 in Vienna, Austria and incorporated oil and gold life on the canvas ( 1 ). This was unique for his time and represents both tile works with Asiatic influence. The painting and the romance it brings forward is still wonderment to onlookers. The picture depicts a passionate relationship between a man and woman in a sort of perfect place.  The couple is embracing, bodies entwined, wearing robes of wealth and decadence. It provides linear constructs of the Art Nouveau style and the movement of arts with crafts ( 2 ). The male is square and masculine while the woman painted is in curves to represent femininity. The couple is a pair with the woman and man equal in stature. They are in a field of flowers and appear to rise above it.  To many this painting represents the concept that love has no bounds. Social position or worldly wealth cannot hide what goes on under the fancy clothes and standard m

The Nine Parries of Saber Fencing

The Parry is important for defending against attacks and offers an opportunity to counter attack. Without learning parries it will be difficult to effectively compete in fencing. Your body will be generally open to seasoned fencers. Practicing defending against attacks using multiple parries is important for creating the highest levels of competitive skill. The most common parries used are Parry of Four, Parry of Six, Parry of Seven, and Parry of Eight ( 1 ). They are designed to protect your right side, left side, lower stomach, middle of your stomach. They are parries designed to cover the core areas of your body and help you defend against the majority of fencing attacks.   Prime: Stops a cut to the chest. Seconde: Stops a low cut to the flank Tierce: Stops high cut to the flank Quarte: Stops high cut to the chest. Quinte: Stops cut to head. Sixte : Stops cut to head. Septime: Stops cut to back. Octave: Stops cut to flank. Neuvieme: Protects Back Mic