Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas was a French painter and one of the brightest representatives of the Impressionist movement. When he was young, his father prophesied the career of a lawyer. However, Degas was more interested in arts and admired the painting. The young artist was born into a rich aristocratic family and therefore could devote all his time to the arts without having to worry about money.

Degas’ first teacher was a famous painter Louis Lamotte, who managed to convey a love for clear contours to his student. In addition, the young artist often visited Italian museums and the Louvre, where he studied the works of famous artists.

Degas liked to depict modern life. He sought to capture it on the canvas in a new and unusual way. He mostly painted portraits. Apart from that, he created many paintings on historical and everyday topics.

The images of Degas are full of dynamism, embodying the rhythms of the late 19th century. It was the passion for the transfer of movement that determined the favourite topics of Degas: galloping horses, ballerinas at rehearsals, working washers and ironers, dressing or combing women.

Key ideas:

– Paintings by Degas are distinguished by a luminous play of colours. The artist often said: “We need to have a high image of art, not about what we are doing at the moment, but about what we would like to achieve one day. Without that, we should not work.”

– To create dramatic tension, the artist used directional light, depicting, for example, a person divided by a searchlight into two parts: the alight one and the shaded one.

– Degas’ observation and phenomenal visual memory allowed him to accurately and truthfully depict gestures and poses. He always carefully thought through the composition of his paintings, often making many sketches.
Graphic works by the artist illustrate how he made pastel compositions depicting dance scenes from separate sketches, movements and poses. In these works, the author’s colouristic approach is much bolder than in his paintings. He used colours freely and bitingly.