Le bal masqué à l'Opéra

Kees van Dongen (Dutch, 1877-1968): La danse de Carpeaux (Le bal masqué à l'Opéra), c.1904 (Oil on canvas) - Van Dongen has depicted well-heeled revelers as they attend a masked ball at the Opéra de Paris… The title refers to Carpeaux’s sculpture La Danse, which adorned the façade of the Opéra. Van Dongen did not describe the sculpture as Carpeaux executed it; instead he has presented it in the form of a contemporary tableau vivant using artist’s models or rouged demi-mondaines wearing the accoutrements of the bordello…