Degas, Edgar

(1834-1917)

Degas, Edgar (1834-1917) Born in Paris of a wealthy family, Degas' early works
-- family portraits and some history pictures -- suggest that he was to develop
into an academic painter. However, his first pictures of dancers were painted
about 1873, and from then on ballet girls, working girls, models dressing and
bathing, and cabaret artists became his principal subject matter. He recorded
the manners and movements of a society he observed almost as if it were another
world. Technically, he was one of the greatest experimenters and innovators. In
later life, he used pastel more than any other medium, and as his eyesight
weakened his handling became broader and freer. There are also seventy-four
pieces of sculpture -- late works -- including ballet dancers and figures in
movement, originally executed in wax, but now generally cast in bronze.

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