In the Wings
Guide
Adjust the guideNew to it · Medium
Looking for this guide.
From the museum
In this backstage view of a Parisian opera house, ballerinas field advances from elegantly dressed male patrons, who approach them in pairs. The stoic dancer in the foreground, chin up and eyes downcast, absorbs the penetrating gaze of one large man while another looms just behind her, so close that his black top hat overlaps with her orange headdress. In 19th-century Paris, male abonnés (season ticket holders) had special access to a back room where they could socialize while watching the ballerinas warm up. Many took advantage of this privilege to sexually exploit the young dancers, who were well aware that their careers depended upon the good favor of this donor class.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC BY 4.0
What did you think?
Save this work’s image and museum information on this device to read without a connection.
Ask about this work
Ask in your own words. The answer comes from what the museum has written about the work, and says so when that does not hold it.
Details
- Maker
- Jean Louis Forain (French, 1852–1931)
- Date
- 1899
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 60.5 × 73.8 cm (23 3/16 × 29 1/16 in.); Framed: 82.6 × 95.6 × 11.5 cm (32 1/2 × 37 5/8 × 4 1/2 in.)
- Place of origin
- France
- Held by
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · Not on view
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Image: Art Institute of Chicago, CC0
