Czardas Dancers

1908, reworked 1920

Oil on canvas, probably about 150 × 200 cm. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague

Four dancers in red and pink costumes perform on a stage, skirts flying. The museum counts it as a high point among his many pictures of dance.

Painted in Dresden; he later dated it 1905, earlier than it was actually made.
Look at the stage floor and arches: they flatten into bands of blue, orange and green.
When he returned to it, he filled areas he had left unpainted with bright color.
Legs and elbows break into angular, jerky shapes. The museum reads the large areas of color, clashing in some places and merging in others, as an image of modern city life.
The museum, then called the Gemeentemuseum, bought it in 1955.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain