Fin d'arabesque

Fin d'arabesque, painted around 1876-77 and now at the Musée d'Orsay, captures the climactic moment of a ballet pose — the arabesque held at its fullest extension — with Degas's characteristic fusion of documentation and aesthetic transformation. The painting was shown at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877 and demonstrates how fully Degas had by this point synthesized his technical approach to ballet subjects. The dancer's pose is captured at the split-second of maximum extension, surrounded by other dancers in various positions and framed by the distinctive orange backdrop of the Opéra's stage. It represents Degas's mastery of controlled movement.

Degas uses a mixed technique of oil paint and pastel, the combination allowing him to achieve both the luminous depth of painting and the chalky vivacity of pastel. The arabesque figure is rendered with precise knowledge of ballet technique — the lifted leg, the extended arms, the turned-out stance — while the stage setting is handled more atmospherically. The orange backdrop creates a warm foil for the white and pale blue of the tutus, with the lighting suggesting the artificial intensity of stage illumination.