Edgar Degas
(19 July 1834 - 27 September 1917) |
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portraits of dancers, female nudes Art Work
| Name: |
Edgar Degas |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Paris, France |
| Nationality: |
French |
| Birth: |
19 July 1834 |
| Death: |
27 September 1917 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
portraits of dancers, female nudes |
| Medium: |
oil paint, pastel, charcoal |
| Method: |
oil painting, pastel, charcoal |
| Style: |
Impressionism |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
Sculptor
Printmaker |
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Biography
Edgar Degas was a French painter of the early Impressionist movement. Born in Paris to a father who was a banker, Degas rejected his family's expectations for an education in law and enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1855. Under the tutelage of Louis Lamothe and the study of the Italian old masters, Degas pursued the genre of history painting for the majority of his youth. In 1860, Degas produced many historical narratives, including The Daughter of Jephthah, Building Babylon, and Young Spartans.
After 1865, however, Degas turned towards more contemporaneous subject matters. His favorite subjects to paint included the horse races, dancers, and female nudes. In 1874, the artist sold his house and inheritance to repay the business debts accrued by his brother Rene. Forced to rely on his own artwork to make a living, Degas produced some of his finest work in the period afterwards.
In 1874, Degas also joined the Impressionists to establish the first Impressionist Exhibition in rejection of the elitism of the Paris Salon. Although he refused to call himself Impressionist and was a frequent critic of the movement (particularly their reverence of spontaneity and painting en plein air), Degas was nevertheless influential in its development. He was great friends with Mary Cassatt and Edouard Manet, key members of the movement, and his art shows their influence. Although primarily inspired by the Dutch realists, Degas' mature paintings nonetheless show the bright colors and loose brushstrokes that characterize the Impressionist style.
In 1881, Degas completed the only sculpture he would ever show in exhibition, Dancer of Fourteen Years, which became highly controversial. His collection of female nudes shown in the 8th Impressionist exhibition received widespread critical acclaim.
By 1886, Degas' poor relations with many of the other artists in the group ultimately contributed to the group's disbanding. The artist's argumentative nature and antisemitism would plague him for the rest of his life as his friends and acquaintances slowly left him and the artist became quite isolated at the end of his life. |
Samples of Work
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