Edgar Degas

Impressionism

Degas exhibited with the Impressionists but preferred to think of himself as a Realist.

💡 Did you know? Unlike his colleagues, Degas rarely painted outdoors: he preferred interiors and artificial light.

dancers

Around half his output shows ballerinas: at rehearsal, in breaks, lacing their shoes, seldom in the spotlight.

💡 Did you know? Around half of his works show dancers.

the movement of the body

His pictures often look cut off like a snapshot.

💡 Did you know? Degas was an early user of photography to study the fleeting movements of dancers and horses.

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years

His „Little Dancer Aged Fourteen“ wore a real fabric skirt and hair ribbon: so realistic that it shocked the public.

💡 Did you know? It was so realistic that it first caused bewilderment.

Paris

Degas was born into a wealthy Parisian banking family and worked in the city all his life.

💡 Did you know? After the collapse of the family bank, Degas at over 40 had for the first time to live by selling his pictures.

blindness (1917)

He turned increasingly to pastel and sculpture.

💡 Did you know? Nearly blind in old age, Degas turned to pastels and sculptures he could work by touch.

L'Absinthe

Around 1875: a melancholy café scene of modern Paris.

💡 Did you know? The picture of a woman staring blankly was thought so depressing that critics condemned it as „ugly.“

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years

Painted around 1881.

💡 Did you know? In his lifetime it was Degas's only publicly shown sculpture: today it stands in bronze in museums worldwide.

The Bellelli Family

Painted around 1858.

💡 Did you know? The cool family portrait of his aunt hints at a visibly broken marriage.

Blue Dancers

Painted around 1897.

💡 Did you know? Degas caught the ballerinas in the half-light of the wings, just before their entrance.

The Ballet Class

Around 1871: ballet girls in the rehearsal room, a typical Degas subject.

💡 Did you know? The famous ballet master Jules Perrot is teaching: Degas observed the daily rehearsal like a reporter.

Interior

Painted around 1868.

💡 Did you know? The dark, enigmatic scene is still debated in its meaning today.

Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando

Painted around 1879.

💡 Did you know? The acrobat hangs by her teeth alone beneath the circus dome: Degas loved such daring viewpoints.

The Millinery Shop

Painted around 1879.

💡 Did you know? In milliners' shops too Degas found the movement and colour that fascinated him.

The Tub

Painted around 1886.

💡 Did you know? Degas showed his women bathing as if observed „through a keyhole.“

Dancers

Degas varied the motif of dancers in countless paintings, pastels and sketches.

💡 Did you know? People call me the painter of dancers, Degas said: yet what interests me above all is movement.

A Cotton Office in New Orleans

Painted around 1873.

💡 Did you know? Degas painted the cotton office while visiting relatives in the US; it was the first of his pictures a museum bought.

Mr and Mrs Édouard Manet

Painted around 1868.

💡 Did you know? Manet cut the picture apart because he disliked Degas's depiction of his wife: their friendship suffered for it.

Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas (1834 to 1917) was a French painter and sculptor who exhibited with the Impressionists and is famous above all for his dancers.

💡 Did you know? Degas was known as a sharp-tongued loner; blind in old age, he could only feel and model his beloved dancers.