"In defending it too much, we might
end up compromising this group, which is attacked with
the same arguments that were used against Corot and
many others. Might not Degas become classic some day?
No one can express with a surer hand the feeling of
modern elegance. He knows how to see and to make
others see a horse race, the jockeys welded to their
saddles, the excited crowd, the horses at the gate....
Moreover, this is a man whose capacity for
observation, artistic subtlety, and taste reveal
themselves in even his smallest works."
[Philippe Burty], La Republique Francaise, 25
April 1874
"In general his color is a little muted, except for
a small painting, Aux courses en province,
which has exquisite color, draftsmanship, exactness of
pose, and accuracy of execution."
Ernest Chesneau, Paris-Journal, 7 May 1874
"Degas is strange and sometimes goes as far as
being bizarre. Horses, ballerinas, and
laundresses-these are his favorite subjects, and of
all the things that surround him, they seem to
preoccupy him exclusively. But what precision there is
to his drawing, and what pleasing accord in his
colors!"
[Jules-Antoine] Castagnary, Le Siecle, 29
April 1874
More About Degas
Edgar Degas, (1834 -1917), reflects a concern for
the psychology of movement and expression and the
harmony of line and continuity of contour.
These characteristics set Degas apart from the other
impressionist painters, although he took part in all
but one of the 8 impressionist exhibitions between
1874 and 1886. Degas was the son of a wealthy
banker, and his aristocratic family background
instilled into his early art a haughty yet sensitive
quality of detachment. As he grew up, his idol was
the painter Jean Auguste Ingres, whose example
pointed him in the direction of a classical
draftsmanship, stressing balance and clarity of
outline. After beginning his artistic studies with
Louis Lamothes, a pupil of Ingres, he started
classes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts but left in 1854
and went to Italy. He stayed there for 5 years,
studying Italian art, especially Renaissance works.
Returning to Paris in 1859, he painted portraits of
his family and friends and a number of historical
subjects, in which he combined classical and
romantic styles. In Paris, Degas came to know
Édouard Manet, and in the late 1860s he turned to
contemporary themes, painting both theatrical scenes
and portraits with a strong emphasis on the social
and intellectual implications of props and settings.
In the early 1870s the female ballet dancer became
his favorite theme. He sketched from a live model in
his studio and combined poses into groupings that
depicted rehearsal and performance scenes in which
dancers on stage, entering the stage, and resting or
waiting to perform are shown simultaneously and in
counterpoint, often from an oblique angle of vision.
On a visit in 1872 to Louisiana, where he had
relatives in the cotton business, he painted The
Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (finished 1873; Musée
Municipal, Pau, France), his only picture to be
acquired by a museum in his lifetime. Other subjects
from this period include the racetrack, the beach,
and cafe interiors.
After 1880, Pastel became Degas's preferred medium.
He used sharper colors and gave greater attention to
surface patterning, depicting milliners,
laundresses, and groups of dancers against
backgrounds now only sketchily indicated. For the
poses, he depended more and more on memory or
earlier drawings. Although he became guarded and
withdrawn late in life, Degas retained strong
friendships with literary people. In 1881 he
exhibited a sculpture, Little Dancer (a bronze
casting of which is in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston), and as his eyesight failed thereafter he
turned increasingly to sculpture, modeling figures
and horses in wax over metal armatures. These
sculptures remained in his studio in disrepair and
were cast in bronze only after his death
Biography courtesy of Web Museum Paris.
Edgar Degas, 1834 -1917,
He
took part in all but one of the eight impressionist
exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. Degas was the son
of a wealthy banker, and his aristocratic family
background instilled into his early art a haughty yet
sensitive quality of aloofness. As he matured he
amired the work of painter Jean Auguste Ingres, whose
example pointed him in the direction of a classical
art. After beginning his artistic studies with Louis
Lamothes, a pupil of Ingres, he started classes at the
Ecole des Beaux Arts but left in 1854 and went to
Italy. He stayed there for 5 years, studying Italian
art, especially Renaissance works.
Upon
returning to Paris in 1859, he painted in a classical
come romantic style portraits of his family and
friends and a number of historical subjects, In Paris
cafe's Degas meet Édouard Manet who was a great
influence on many impressionist artist, and in the
late 1860s he turned to contemporary themes, painting
both theatrical scenes and portraits with a strong
emphasis on the social and intellectual aspects of
life.
In
the early 1870s the female ballet dancer became his
now famous subjects. He sketched from a live model in
his studio and composed into groupings that depicted
rehearsal and performance scenes, entering the stage,
and resting or waiting to perform are shown
simultaneously, often from an deviate angle. On a
visit to family in 1872 to Louisiana,, he painted The
Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (1873; Musée Municipal,
Pau, France), his only picture to be acquired by a
museum in his lifetime. Other subjects from this
period include the racetrack, the beach, and cafe
interiors.
After 1880, Pastel became Degas's preferred medium. He
used sharper colors and gave greater attention to
surface patterning, depicting milliners, laundresses,
and groups of dancers against backgrounds now only
sketchily indicated. For the poses, he depended more
and more on memory or earlier drawings. Although he
became guarded and withdrawn late in life, Degas
retained strong friendships with literary people. In
1881 he exhibited a sculpture, Little Dancer (a bronze
casting of which is in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston), and as his eyesight failed thereafter he
turned increasingly to sculpture, modeling figures and
horses in wax over metal armatures. These sculptures
remained in his studio and were cast in bronze after
his death in 1917.
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