Degas, Edgar

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DEGAS, EDGAR

DEGAS, EDGAR (1834–1917), French painter, sculptor, and printmaker.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas is probably best known for images of ballet dancers and the multimedia sculpture, The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1879–1881). This popular image, however, overlooks the formidable output of an artist who worked in multiple media, ranging from oils to prints to photographs, and who had an active career from the 1860s to 1912. An examination of Degas's paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures reveals favorite themes and subjects—ballet dancers, portraits of contemporaries, washerwomen, women bathing, female nudes, café scenes, and equestrian pictures, particularly images of jockeys and horse races. Degas was born and remained a Parisian, and his art reflected the vibrant life of his Parisian milieu.

Edgar Degas was born in Paris on 19 July 1834 into a comfortable and cultured family. He attended the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand and received a classical education. To study painting, he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts (1855–1856), where he studied with Louis Lamothe (1822–1869), once a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867), whom Degas met and greatly admired. In French painting of the first half of the nineteenth century, Ingres was considered the champion of drawing and the line, whereas Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), whom Degas equally regarded, was viewed as the master of color. After a year of schooling, Degas departed for a three-year sojourn in Italy, where he had relatives. Living and traveling in Naples, Rome, Florence, and other Italian locales, he studied and copied the Italian masters, including Giotto (1266/1267 or 1276–1337), Michelangelo (1475–1564), and Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), among others. Degas's training in art was thus rooted in the traditions of the old masters.

Back in Paris in 1859, Degas sought to establish himself as an artist by exhibiting at the official Salon. He exhibited twice, showing, for example, The Steeplechase in 1866, but found himself dissatisfied with his efforts at producing the type of grand historical paintings favored by the Salon's judges. Nevertheless, he produced a number of such works, including Young Spartans Exercising (c. 1860). During the 1860s, Degas gradually shifted the subjects of his art to contemporary Parisian scenes, and he painted horse racing, portraits of contemporaries, and ballet dancers. His circle of friends and acquaintances included realists, like the novelist and art critic Émile Zola (1840–1902), and independent artists associated with the Café Guerbois, like Édouard Manet (1832–1883), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), and others. Despite his association with these future impressionists, with whom he would also exhibit, Degas preferred to work in the studio using drawings, and not out of doors.

After serving in the National Guard during the Paris Commune, Degas traveled to New Orleans, where he painted the celebrated Cotton Market at New Orleans (1873). Back in Paris, Degas showed ten works at the first Impressionist Exhibition (1874), including Carriage at the Races (c. 1872). He later exhibited at all of the Impressionist Exhibitions, except the seventh (1882). His celebrated and controversial The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen was shown at the sixth Exhibition (1881) and the female nudes shown at the Eighth Exhibition sparked adverse comments. Unlike the works of most of the impressionists, Degas's paintings and drawings, often images of contemporary Parisian life, became popular and they sold.

Two themes dominate Degas's life in the 1880s. His paintings, prints, and drawings tend to focus more on women, particularly ballet dancers, cabaret singers, and working women. There are also numerous views of nude or seminude women bathing or at the toilette, in which the focus is the human form, often depicted from unusual angles. Second, Degas expanded his own collection of art, which ultimately included not only his own works but also works by old masters like El Greco (Doménikos Theotokò-poulos; 1541–1614) and contemporaries like Manet and Paul Gauguin (1848–1903). He also collected works by Ingres and Delacroix. Degas's works continued to sell, and he patronized noted dealers like Paul Durand-Ruel (1831–1922) and Ambroise Vollard (1865–1939).

Changes in Degas's style became evident during the last of his working years. His use of color became bolder and his figures less realistic, as is evident in Fallen Jockey (c. 1896–1898). Some historians attribute this shift to Degas's failing eyesight, while others point to the influence of Gauguin and other artists. Furthermore, the Dreyfus affair had an impact on Degas's life. Because he took a position against Dreyfus, he lost many friends, especially those who were Jewish, and the size of his social world declined. In 1912, because of continued problems with his eyesight and failing health, he ceased working. He died on 27 September 1917 in Paris and is buried in Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.

Degas's reputation has fluctuated. At the height of his career in the 1870s and 1880s, he

was considered a realist or naturalist, one who successfully depicted the essence of contemporary Parisian life. Some, however, objected to his female nudes and complained that the models were unattractive. Nonetheless, works by Degas were sold to collectors and museums, and he avoided the poverty endured by many of his contemporary impressionists. At his death, the Parisian art world was amazed at the size and richness of his art collection. The late twentieth century brought renewed interest in Degas. Catalogs of his works have appeared, his letters and notebooks have been published, and several major exhibitions have taken place. A considerable body of scholarship has focused on his representations of women, and his overall career has been under going a major reassessment by scholars such as Richard Kendall.

bibliography

Primary Sources

Degas, Edgar. Degas by Himself: Drawings, Prints, Paintings, Writings. Edited by Richard Kendall. Boston, 1987. Lavishly illustrated selection of writings by Degas and his contemporaries.