Famous Paintings of Music and Dance

Musicians, dancers and singers, from Dutch lute players to Degas's ballet.

85 paintings, with works by Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jan Steen and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Most often they suit the dining room, kids' room and home gym.

Showing 1 to 48 of 85 paintings

The Dance Class, Edgar Degas, 1874, oil on canvas

Edgar Degas The Dance Class, 1874 The Met

Painting, heavy in tones of blue-green and burnt orange, depicting a bar scene at night. The men wear top hats and many are bearded; the women are dressed in voluminous gowns and decorative hats.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec At the Moulin Rouge, 1892–95 Art Institute of Chicago

The Musicians, Caravaggio, 1597, oil on canvas

Caravaggio The Musicians, 1597 The Met

Lucas van Uffel (died 1637), Anthony van Dyck, ca. 1622, oil on canvas

Anthony van Dyck Lucas van Uffel (died 1637), ca. 1622 The Met

The Spanish Singer, Édouard Manet, 1860, oil on canvas

Édouard Manet The Spanish Singer, 1860 The Met

Two Young Girls at the Piano, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1892, oil on canvas

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892 The Met

Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), Georges Seurat, 1887–88, oil on canvas

Georges Seurat Circus Sideshow (Parade de cirque), 1887–88 The Met

Merry Company on a Terrace, Jan Steen, ca. 1670, oil on canvas

Jan Steen Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670 The Met

The Shepherd's Song, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1891, oil on canvas

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes The Shepherd's Song, 1891 The Met

Still Life—Violin and Music, William Michael Harnett, 1888, oil on canvas

William Michael Harnett Still Life—Violin and Music, 1888 The Met

Dance in a Subterranean Roundhouse at Clear Lake, California, Jules Tavernier, 1878, oil on canvas

Jules Tavernier Dance in a Subterranean Roundhouse at Clear Lake, California, 1878 The Met

Four women with musical instruments lounge in a massive garden courtyard.

Carl Blechen The Interior of the Palm House on the Pfaueninsel Near Potsdam, 1834 Art Institute of Chicago

The Dreamer (La Rêveuse), Antoine Watteau, 1712–14, oil on panel

Antoine Watteau The Dreamer (La Rêveuse), 1712–14 Art Institute of Chicago

A scene in brown and green tones of people dancing indoors. In the foreground, three women stand near boothed tables while a man sits.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Moulin de la Galette, 1889 Art Institute of Chicago

Three light-skinned, dark-haired ballerinas, painted in muted tones, wear off-the-shoulder yellow leotards and tutus as they huddle near each other. One adjusts her costume, while one holds her hands clasped above her head.

Edgar Degas Yellow Dancers (In the Wings), 1874–76 Art Institute of Chicago

Painting of a light-skinned woman dressed in a gauzy white gown with black trim playing an upright paino.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Woman at the Piano, 1875–76 Art Institute of Chicago

Café Singer, Edgar Degas, 1879, oil on canvas

Edgar Degas Café Singer, 1879 Art Institute of Chicago

Allegory of Lyric Poetry, François Boucher, 1753, oil on canvas

François Boucher Allegory of Lyric Poetry, 1753 The Met

Boy with a Lute, Frans Hals, ca. 1625, oil on canvas

Frans Hals Boy with a Lute, ca. 1625 The Met

Three light-skinned girls hold hands to create a loose ring with their arms extended, in a grassy field in this horizontal painting. All three girls wear white headdresses, ankle-length, long-sleeved dresses, and clogs.

Paul Gauguin Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven, 1888 National Gallery of Art

The Ballet from "Robert le Diable", Edgar Degas, 1871, oil on canvas

Edgar Degas The Ballet from "Robert le Diable", 1871 The Met

At the Circus: The Bareback Rider (Au Cirque: Écuyère), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1888, oil on vellum

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec At the Circus: The Bareback Rider (Au Cirque: Écuyère), 1888 Art Institute of Chicago

Alphonse Promayet (1822–1872), Gustave Courbet, 1851, oil on canvas

Gustave Courbet Alphonse Promayet (1822–1872), 1851 The Met

Vibrantly colored mythical scene depicting people, animals, and dragons in front of mountains.

Tibet Milarepa on Mount Kailash, c. 1500 Art Institute of Chicago

We look across a grassy expanse leading to a lake, with several women, tiny in scale, dancing under a grove of trees to our right in this horizontal landscape painting.

Camille Corot Dance under the Trees at the Edge of the Lake, 1865/1870 National Gallery of Art

The Investiture of Bishop Harold as Duke of Franconia, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, ca. 1751–52, oil on canvas

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo The Investiture of Bishop Harold as Duke of Franconia, ca. 1751–52 The Met

Study for "The Dancing Lesson": The Boy, Thomas Eakins, probably 1877, oil on canvas

Thomas Eakins Study for "The Dancing Lesson": The Boy, probably 1877 National Gallery of Art

In a dance studio, two ballerinas wearing knee-length tutus and ballet slippers sit on a bench and stretch to our right while four more pose at the back of the space, to our left, in this long, horizontal painting.

Edgar Degas Before the Ballet, 1890/1892 National Gallery of Art

The Dancing Class, Edgar Degas, ca. 1870, oil on wood

Edgar Degas The Dancing Class, ca. 1870 The Met

Thomas Eakins Study for "The Dancing Lesson": The Banjo Player, probably 1877 National Gallery of Art

Dancers, Pink and Green, Edgar Degas, ca. 1890, oil on canvas

Edgar Degas Dancers, Pink and Green, ca. 1890 The Met

A dimly lit ballet studio is filled with about two dozen young dancers tying on their shoes, stretching, or practicing en pointe in this horizontal painting.

Edgar Degas The Dance Class, c. 1873 National Gallery of Art

Dancers Practicing at the Barre, Edgar Degas, 1877, mixed media on canvas

Edgar Degas Dancers Practicing at the Barre, 1877 The Met

Frieze of Dancers, Edgar Degas, c. 1895, oil on fabric

Edgar Degas Frieze of Dancers, c. 1895 Cleveland Museum of Art

Four light-skinned ballerinas with russet-orange hair tied back in buns adjust the straps of their bodices as they gather close together, their bodies and wide, knee-length tutus taking up the left half of this horizontal painting.

Edgar Degas Four Dancers, c. 1899 National Gallery of Art

Young Woman with a Lute, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1662–63, oil on canvas

Johannes Vermeer Young Woman with a Lute, ca. 1662–63 The Met

Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d'Hiver, John Singer Sargent, c. 1879, oil on canvas

John Singer Sargent Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d'Hiver, c. 1879 Art Institute of Chicago

A diagonal line of leaping ballet dancers recedes from a starkly lit dancer partially visible at bottom left. All are broadly painted against a blue-green ground above them, pale pink below.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Ballet Dancers, 1885–86 Art Institute of Chicago

Music and Dance and Cupids in Conspiracy, François Boucher, 1740s, oil on canvas

François Boucher Music and Dance and Cupids in Conspiracy, 1740s Cleveland Museum of Art

Music and Dance, François Boucher, 1740s, oil on canvas

François Boucher Music and Dance, 1740s Cleveland Museum of Art

Shown from the shins up, a woman with medium-toned skin plays a mandolin in this loosely painted vertical composition. The woman’s body faces us but her head tips to our left and she looks down in that direction with dark eyes.

Camille Corot Gypsy Woman with Mandolin, c. 1870 National Gallery of Art

A man and woman standing with their backs to us face a room where others stand or pose in this vertical painting.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Quadrille at the Moulin Rouge, 1892 National Gallery of Art

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Young Spanish Woman with a Guitar, 1898 National Gallery of Art

A densely packed crowd of men and women, all of them with pale skin and most of them wearing black, stand in a theater lobby beneath a mezzanine level that runs close to the top edge of the composition in this horizontal painting.

Édouard Manet Masked Ball at the Opera, 1873 National Gallery of Art

A long, brightly lit room is filled with at least nine young ballerinas in robin’s egg-blue dance costumes and pale pink shoes in this wide, horizontal painting. They all have light skin and brown or dark blond hair.

Edgar Degas The Dance Lesson, c. 1879 National Gallery of Art

A pale-skinned girl wearing an arctic-blue ballet costume stands looking at us and almost fills this vertical painting. The scene is painted with blended strokes, giving it a soft, almost blurry look.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir The Dancer, 1874 National Gallery of Art

We look slightly down onto a loosely painted scene with three ballerinas in rose-pink costumes and one man, wearing a black suit and top hat, against a backdrop made up of dabs and strokes of lime, mint, and pine green in this vertical…

Edgar Degas Dancers Backstage, 1876/1883 National Gallery of Art

A young, pale-skinned woman sits with her back to us as she looks at a painting on an easel in a studio in this vertical painting.

Camille Corot Corot's Studio: Woman Seated Before an Easel, a Mandolin in her Hand, c. 1868 National Gallery of Art

Famous Paintings of Music and Dance

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