Edgar Degas was a prominent French painter
and sculptor born in Paris, on July 19, 1834, into an upper-class
family, his father being a banker. Originally having studied
law, he was later permitted by his father to abandon his legal
studies for art. He began studying a the École des
Beaux-Arts, where he mainly copied 15th and 16th century masters.
He continued copying art at the Louvre and also in Italy,
where he had relatives.
Early on in his artistic career, Degas focused
on portraits and historical subjects, however, he soon began
looking at more contemporary subjects for his works. He was
encouraged to do so by Édouard Manet, who also later
introduced him to the group of artists later known as the
Impressionists. Among his favourite subjects were ballet dancers,
women at their toilette, milliners, laundresses, racecourses,
theatres, cafés, music halls, or boudoirs. Degas was
set slightly apart form the other Impressionists in that he
did not focus especially on light and atmosphere and also
in that his primary subjects were always figures rather than
landscapes. He also worked in the studio to finish his work,
instead of out in the open as the Impressionists did, although
he did make notes and sketches from living models.
Degas also added certain innovations into his
work, influenced particularly by Japanese prints and by photography,
bringing new interpretations of balance and angles into his
paintings. As he grew older, his eyesight began to fail, forcing
him to replace oil painting with pastels and charcoal.
When his father died in 1874, Degas was forced
to help pay off unexpected debts and eventually make a living
from his art. This was not a problem in the sense that Degas
had received general acclaim by that time. In the past, however,
he had been somewhat reluctant to part with his works. As
his sight continued to worsen, he made sculptures from wax,
which where cast in bronze after his death in Paris on September
27, 1917, at the age of 83.
Degas is remembered as one Frances greatest
artists and a master of modern 19th century art. He was to
have a profound influence on future artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec
and Picasso.
A brief list of some of his works include:
Absinthe
The Rehearsal
Two Laundresses
Woman with Chrysanthemums
Foyer of the Dance
Bellelli Family
Russian Dancers
Ballet Rehearsal
Fin d’Arabesque
