The National Gallery In London Renames Degas's "Russian Dancers" As "Ukrainian Dancers"

During the height of La Belle Époque in the late 1890s, dance troupes from Eastern Europe visited Paris and performed in its famous cabaret clubs: the Folies-Bergère, the Moulin Rouge and the Casino. of Paris among them. One of these exhibits probably inspired a pastel drawing by Edgar Degas, formerly known as "Russian Dancers" (circa 1899) and housed in the National Gallery in London. But the performers depicted are "almost certainly Ukrainian rather than Russian", according to the museum, which has renamed the work to recognize its true protagonists.
"Ukrainian Dancers", as it will henceforth be titled, depicts a dynamic mass of dancers in traditional folk costume, wearing hair ribbons and garlands, dotted with blue and yellow, in an apparent reference to the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Russian language, culture, beliefs, and traditions were enforced throughout the Empire

Degas: "Russian Dancers" and the Art of Pastel | J. Paul Getty Museum |