Four Dancers is a painting by Edgar Degas that dates back to around 1899 and was created using pastel medium. Known for his painterly style, Degas was fascinated with representing dancers in various mediums. This painting exists in several variants, each with different kinds and degrees of modification, with the composition accentuating the shapes and arms of the dancers through bold dark lines and dramatic lighting via green and orange tones.
The painting may depict a single dancer seen from four different viewpoints, and it is one of the largest and most ambitious works of Degas’ late period. The artist’s formal concerns regarding the use of emphatic dark lines shaping the heads and arms are emphasized, highlighting his interest in ballet dancers, with approximately 1,500 works on this subject created by Degas. The artwork holds an incredibly rough appeal to it as it showcases an array of color, form, and style.
