In jarring contrast to the formalities of Ecole des Beaux Arts,7 the indistinct outlines and smeared and punctuated brush strokes appeared crude and foreign to the public eye. Since its establishment in 1682, the Academy remained the premier institution of fine arts. It was there that the most esteemed artists--Ingres, Delacroix, Degas, Monet (to name a few)--perfected their refined facture. The Academy’s aesthetic derived from the canon of Classical Antiquity. Accordingly, their visual modality was entrenched in traditional principles and their conception of realistic representation was rigidly narrow. For Impressionists to neglect line value and form yet declare their art as “realistic” was more preposterous than it was offensive. The paintings …show more content…
It is a representation of cultural constructions whose signifier is the body. Claims have been made that the class is coming to an end25 while others maintain that each dancer waits in anticipation for their own examination26. If viewing the painting at eye-level, either may be true. The cropped field of vision places the viewer in close proximity to the class. He is confronted with an unsettling cacophony of poses and gestures and scattered figures across the slanted floor. The Ballerina is awkward; she itches her back and adjusts her dress. The Ballerina is tired; she works and she sweats and she rubs her eyes. The Ballerina is graceful; her toes remain pointed as she sits and her shoulders remain upright as she stands. She commands attention, yet she has no face. She is both mystical and human, lovely and invisible. The scene both “supports and subverts” typological representations of the ballerina and her life; these inconsistencies create a social and psychological tension that leaves a sense of malaise. What occurs over time is the slow dissolution of “traditional categories of judgment27” and by necessity, a hybrid system of classifications and