Essay, Research Paper: Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas
Essay submitted by Unknown

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas was born on July 19, 1834, at 8 rue Saint-George's in
Paris. His father, Auguste, a banker, was French, and his mother, Celestine, an
American from New Orleans. The family name "Degas" had been changed to "De Gas" by
some family members in Naples and France in order to sound more aristocratic; the
preposition indicated a name derived from land holdings. Degas went back to using the
original spelling sometime after 1870, and that is how we spell his name today.

He was destined for a law career, but instead entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where
he studies with Louis Lamothe. There he became a painter and sculptor.

Degas was associated with the Impressionists, taking an active part in there firsts
exhibitions, but his individual choice of subject matter, handling of composition, and
emphasis of drawing distinguished his works from theirs. He worked with a number of
media: oil, pastel, lithography, engraving, and sculpture.

From the mid-1850s through the mid-1870s Degas explored many types of subject
matter. He copied works by earlier artists and executed his own history paintings,
portraits, and scenes of daily life. Degas eventually ended his efforts at history painting
and devoted more attention to portraiture, turning images of relatives and friends into
complex psychological studies.

His oils and pastels depict the inhabitants of the world of sports, business, ballet, and
the cafes in their self-conscious posturing and characteristic gestures. He has
numerous paintings of jockeys, dancers, laundresses and prostitutes. Another favorite
subject was a model at her bath. Degas' observation of movement resulted in the
radical compositions that preserved the character of his subjects. As Degas' subject
matter became more contemporary, so did his artistic style. Early on, Degas presents
people as individuals, whereas works from the mid-1870s on categorize women in
particular according to their professions. The laundresses, milliners, and dancers
represent types rather than specific individuals. Degas' handling of paint and use of
color also become bolder and more experimental. Degas' collection of repeated poses
and postures speaks to his preoccupation with texture, color, and form.

In the later years of his life, despite failing eyesight, he continues to paint his women
models in varied, unarranged poses. Soon after he began to let him self go. He

stopped caring for his dress or trimming his beard. He had chronic bronchitis and
bladder problems. Degas continued to work as long as he was in the house of Rue
Victor-Masse.

During the last years of his life, he was seen walking through the streets of Paris,
ignoring the traffic. Edgar died on September 27, 1917.

He is well represented in the Louvre in Paris. Some paintings displayed there include
The glass of Absinthe, Laundresses, and Prima Ballerina. In the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. in New York, Pouting, and Women with
Chrysanthemums are on display for all to see. Degas is commonly regarded as on of the
greatest masters of 19th century French art