Edgar Degas

Jasmine Mendoza          Painting I             M. Zimmer          11/6/17

Edgar Degas 💃💃(19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917)

Self-Portrait in a Soft Hat, Oil on Canvas, 1857

The Rehearsal, Oil on Canvas, 1873, 47.2 x 61.5 cm

Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas in Paris, France and the eldest of five he is famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. Degas is now considered "one of the founders of impressionism"

Impressionist use bright, "dazzling" colors, concentrating primarily on the effects of light, and hoping to infuse their scenes with immediacy. Degas rejected this title, but others agree these paintings display his mastery in the depiction of movement.

Dancers in blue, Oil on Canvas, 1890

"It is Degas' fascination with the depiction of movement, including the movement of a spectator's eyes as during a random glance, that is properly speaking 'Impressionist'." -Art historian, Charles Stuckey.

In his youth his desire was to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art.

By eighteen he had turned a room in his home into an artist's studio, and had begun making copies in the Louvre. He remained an enthusiastic copyist into middle age.

Then in his early thirties he changed course, he became a classical painter of modern life.

Dancers in pink, Oil on Canvas, 1880 

Late 1880s, Degas also developed a passion for photography. He photographed many of his friends, often by lamplight. Photographs, depicting dancers and nudes, were used for reference in some of Degas' drawings and paintings.

He began to paint women at work, milliners, laundresses, and dancers at work. Rising from the Ballet La Source was his first major work which he later identified with, in the subject of dance. Over half his works depict dancers.

Toward the end of his life he's known to have been working in pastel as late as the end of 1907, and believed to have continued making sculpture as late as 1910, then apparently ceased working completely in 1912 when his longtime residence was demolished.

Ballet Practice. Oil on Canvas, 1873

Dancers, Oil on Canvas, 1878

He never married and spent the last years of his life, nearly blind, restlessly wandering the streets of Paris before dying in 1917 (83 yrs). Degas' last years were sad and lonely, especially as he outlived many of his closest friends.

Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship.

Dance Class, Oil on Canvas, 83.5 x 77.2 cm

I was first exposed to his work when I was very little and in fact taking ballet classes. My Dance teacher was a fan of his ballerina paintings because she knows about those backstage views, musicians playing live, and practicing all day. I knew I had to do some research on him once I knew Edgar Degas was the one who made these lovely paintings.

https://www.edgar-degas.org/