Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando

Edgar Degas 1834–1917

Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando (1879) by Edgar Degas. Its palette is led by rich scarlet brown (#87643f, 48%) and umber (#6b5e40, 27%). Overall the canvas is mid-toned, moderately saturated and warm.

Color note

Degas worked more and more in pastel, building up layers of pure color and fixing each coat; many of his dancers are pastels, not oils.

Palette

#87643f MG 161 rich scarlet brown 48.0% of canvas
#6b5e40 MG 184 umber 27.5% of canvas
#614c34 MG 176 taupe 12.9% of canvas
#907e5d MG 174 warm grey 8.4% of canvas
#483d30 MG 177 dark taupe 3.1% of canvas

Color families

Brown 98%, Yellow 1%, Gray 0%, Orange 0%, Green 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.51
Contrast: 0.16
Vividness: 0.059
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 16 cells
Hue range: 0.35
Focus: 0.00

Composition

50% of the visual weight is in the right half, 51% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.31 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 54% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 35% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1879
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 117.2 × 77.5 cm
Genre: portrait
Collection: National Gallery, London

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