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Italian
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Edgar Degas:
(1834-1917), was a French
impressionist painter.
Impressionist painter
Like the other impressionists, he wanted to portray situations from
modern life. However, he did not share his fellow impressionist's
enthusiasms for light and color. Degas emphasized composition, drawing,
and form more than did the other members of the movement.
Informal positions
Degas is best known for his paintings of people in both public and
unguarded private moments. He showed his figures in awkward or informal
positions to free himself from what he felt were outmoded styles of
portraying the human body. But he composed his pictures carefully to
achieve formal balance.
Renaissance painters
Hilarie German Edgar Degas was born in Paris of wealthy parents. From
1854 to 1859, he spent much time in Italy studying the great Italian
Renaissance painters to perfect his draftsmanship and sense of style.
Courbet and Manet
Degas intended to become a painter of historical scenes, but he
abandoned this career because he felt a need to paint modern subjects.
Probably under the influence of the painters Gustave Courbet and Eduard
Manet, Degas began to paint scenes from everyday life.
The techniques
He especially enjoyed painting pictures of race-track and theatrical
life. During the 1870's, Degas began to use daring compositional
techniques, partly influenced by Japanese prints. He placed his figures
at unusual angles and used odd visual viewpoints. For example, he tilted
his perspective to emphasize a sudden or informal movement by a figure.
He even cut off parts of the subjects at the edge of the picture. In the
1880's, Degas started to concentrate on intimate scenes, such as women
bathing, shopping, or drying or combing their hair.
Sculptor
Degas painted many pictures in oil, but he also excelled in pastel.
Degas was a fine sculptor as well and produced many figurines of clay or
wax.
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Degas' style
Degas' Young Dancer was completed in 1881. The artist now ranks as an
important sculptor, but he created statues only to study movements of
the body, not to be exhibited. The Dancing Class illustrates how Degas
portrayed figures in informal poses. The picture's careful composition
and unusual visual viewpoint are typical of Degas' style.
Degas's works of art
§ "Three Ballet Dancers, One with Dark Crimson Waist" Pastel on paper
1899 in Barnes Foundation
§ "The Dance Class" probably 1874 oil on canvas
§ "Dance Class at the Opéra" 1872 Musée d'Orsay Paris
§ "Danseuse assise" c. 1879-80 and "Seated Dancer" charcoal and pastel
on paper mounted on pasteboard,The Hermitage St. Petersburg
§ "The Millinery Shop"oil on canvas 1884/90 Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned
Coburn Memorial Collection
§ "Three Jockeys" ca. 1900 Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Douglas Dillon 1992
§ "Bather Stepping into a Tub" ca. 1890 H. O. Havemeyer Collection
Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Woman with a Towel" 1894 H. O. Havemeyer Collection Bequest of Mrs.
H. O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub" 1885 H. O. Havemeyer Collection,
Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Dancers, Pink and Green" ca. 1890 H. O. Havemeyer Collection Bequest
of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Woman Drying Her Arm" H. O. Havemeyer Collection Bequest of Mrs. H.
O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Russian Dancer" 1899 H. O. Havemeyer Collection Bequest of Mrs. H. O.
Havemeyer 1929
§ "Dancer with a Fan" ca. 1890–95 H. O. Havemeyer Collection Bequest of
Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer 1929
§ "Woman Combing Her Hair" ca. 1888–90
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nate B. Spingold,1956
§ "Race Horses" 1885–88 The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection
Partial Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1999
§ "The star, Dancer on stage" 1878 Pastel on paper Musée d'Orsay Paris
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