The Politics Behind Those Guerrilla Girls Masks

             This image was painted by Edgar Degas (1834-1917), a French artist of the late 1800s, in 1879. Degas was born in Paris, and after his introduction to Ingres (a severe Neoclassical painter), he enrolled in art school in 1855. He fought for the National Guard during the Franco-Prussian war, lived in New Orleans in the French Quarter in 1872, and had many paintings exhibited in the Paris Salon. Degas is labeled as an “impressionist,” but he always rejected the title; he never painted outdoors or used the thick/blotchy application of paint. He also wasn’t “spontaneous” and his canvases are overall smooth. However, characteristic of impressionism, Degas painted light, movement, café scenes, and Parisian outings; his compositions/vantage points were often unusual, and he painted with unique, bold colors. The Green Dancer is currently in a museum in Madrid, Spain, and shows ballerinas mid-dance with their arms held diagonally. Movement is also suggested by the central girl’s leg flying back in a graceful arc. This image has interesting perspective: the viewer is looking down on the dancers as if from a balcony (striking). There is also a contrast of horizontal and vertical elements; the row of girls in the back is rectilinear while the green dancer’s arm cuts the painting in half. Also, the different colors (i.e. orange and green) are juxtaposed, illustrating the color experimentation of the impressionists. The painting has more of a less blended or smooth surface (it’s more blurred/ “impressionist.”) The light source is coming from the right and illuminates the dancers in the foreground, while those in the back are shrouded in shadow. The viewer only sees one of the green dancers’ faces; the others are deliberately cut off and obscure (mystery). Essentially, the painting is about movement and color—the dancers are like sunbursts of sea foam green with golden skin. The medium is pastel (not oil), which makes the colors more vivid and flexible.