Recently when viewing artwork from the Metropolitan Museum there were two pieces that immediately interested me because of the subject matter. Both the pieces were done by Edgar Degas, the one titled The Dancing Class, 1870 actually the first painting of many these dance scenes he made. The other piece that I enjoy is also parting of the dancing series and is titled Dancers Practicing at the Barre, 1877. There are apparent similarities such as similar object within the pieces. Within both of these works there are young female dancers with their hair up in bun, ballet shoes on their feet, and dance outfits with tutus. Not only do the young ladies have similar appearances in both pieces but so do the rooms, they both have bars for the dancers to balance and stretch as well as a watering can on the bottom left of each work. Other than the subject matter, there are also other small similarities such as the different hues he used when creating the works.
On the other hand, the way he treated the surfaces in each work is completely different. In The Dancing Class Edgar treated the wood surface very careful with oil paint. He made the surface smooth and blended the colors together well. Whereas in Dancers Practicing at the Barre he used mixed media on canvas to create a surface where the brushstrokes are more visible in some areas, which is also known as technique called impasto. Overall both works are aesthetically pleasing because of the artist's careful choices when creating the composition.
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