BACK TO THE ARTIST   Le foyer de la danse à l'Opéra de la rue Le Peletier (Ballet studio at the Opera in rue Le Peletier), 1872           Details     Description     Artist EDGAR DEGAS Manet Renoir and Degas were all captivated by the theatre. They loved to observe the skills and artifice of performance. But Degas’ special preserve was ballet. He could catch in a few decisive strokes the muscular effort and contortions that the “small female monkeys”, as Goncourt called the young dancers, went through.   Date 1872   Institution Musée d'Orsay     Medium Oil on canvas    Dimensions 32 * 46 cm