Edgar Degas

born Paris 1834, died Paris 1917

Degas's father, a banker interested in music and art, did not object much when his son wanted to pursue a career in art instead of the law. Degas first studied with Félix-Joseph Barrias (1841–1905) and then, and more importantly, with Louis Lamothe (1822–1869), a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867). Ingres's supple draftsmanship and classical orientation were deciding factors in Degas's early development.

From 1856 to 1859 Degas visited Italy, where he copied ancient and Renaissance works in Naples and Florence (in both cities he stayed with relatives) and in Rome. On his return to Paris he painted portraits and scenes from history and modern life and was accepted at the Salon from 1865 to 1870.

Increasingly, however, he became a member of groups of independent-minded artists of a Realist or Naturalist aesthetic, who gathered with Degas's friend Édouard Manet (1832–1883) at the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes and the Café Guerbois. Degas exhibited with the group known as the Impressionists in all but one of their eight shows, sharing with them an interest in Japanese prints, subjects of modern life, and innovation.

Degas distinguished himself from almost all other progressive artists of the later nineteenth century by the combination of his devotion to the figure and his constant technical experimentation. His increasingly poor eyesight led to work in bolder forms, as well as in the media of sculpture, poetry, and photography.

Source: Monet and the Impressionists exhibition catalogue:
Shackelford, George T M. Monet and the Impressionists.
Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2008

Learn more in the exhibition:
> Early Impressionism
> The triumph of Impressionism: the 1880s
> Impressionism after 1900

Works by Edgar Degas in the exhibition

Racehorses at Longchamp  1871 (possibly reworked in 1874), Edgar Degas.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: S A Denio Collection – Sylvanus Adams Denio Fund and general income

After the bath  c1900, Edgar Degas.
Charcoal. Art Gallery of New South Wales: Margaret Hannah Olley Trust 1994

Dancers in the rehearsal room  1900–05, Edgar Degas.
Charcoal with pastel on paper, mounted on cardboard. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: gift of Arthur Wiesenberger

Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot  1900–10, cast 1919–21, Edgar Degas.
Bronze, cire perdue (lost wax). Art Gallery of New South Wales: bequest of Paul Haefliger, 1982