Degas’s favorite theme was the ballet, which inspired many of the master’s famous works. His early painting Dancer Posing for a Photographer belongs to a number of those works in which the artist emphasizes the prosaic nature of the life of ballerinas. The dancer from the corps de ballet is preparing to assume a dramatic pose in front of a mirror, but the artist portrayed her in a perspective that draws attention to the angularity and awkwardness of her movement. The silvery gray tint of the foggy day beyond the large windows of the studio filters into the room, enveloping the figure of the dancer with tender light and giving the picture a hint of sad poetry. 

This is Degas’s only oil painting in the museum collection.