|
Edgar Hilaire-Germain Degas
(July 19,1834 Paris - Sept.27,1917 Paris) French Oil Painting Artist Biography.
Edgar Hilaire-Germain Degas is acknowledged as the master of drawing the human figure in motion. Degas worked in many mediums, he is perhaps best known for his oil paintings of dancing ballerinas, of race horses and the nude female figure.
The art of Degas reflects a concern for the psychology of movement and expression and the harmony of line and continuity of contour. These characteristics set Degas apart from the other Impressionist oil painters, although he took part in all but one of the 8 impressionist art exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. Edgar Degas was the son of a wealthy banker and his aristocratic family background instilled into his early art a haughty yet sensitive quality of detachment. As he grew up, his idol was the painter Jean Auguste Ingres whose example pointed him in the direction of a classical draftsmanship, stressing balance and clarity of outline. Although he studied law, he abandoned it for oil painting, studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts with Lamothe, a student of Ingres and in Italy, copying 15th and 16th century old masters oil paintings.
Returning to Paris in 1859, he painted portraits of his family and friends and a number of historical subjects, in which he combined classical and romantic styles. In Paris, Edgar Degas came to know Edouard Manet, and in the late 1860s he turned to contemporary themes, painting both theatrical scenes and portraits with a strong emphasis on the social and intellectual implications of props and setting. He exhibited for six years in the Paris Salon (1865-70), but later ceased showing there and exhibited with the Impressionists, whose works he admired although his approach often differed from theirs. A perfectionist, Edgar Degas strove to unite the discipline of classical art with the immediacy of impressionism. Trained in the linear tradition of Ingres, Degas shared with the impressionists, their directness of expression and the interest in and portrayal of contemporary life.
In the early 1870's, the female ballet dancer became his favorite theme. He sketched from a live model in his studio and combined poses into groupings that depicted rehearsal and performance scenes in which dancers on stage, entering the stage, resting or waiting to perform are shown simultaneously and in counterpoint, often from an oblique angle of vision. On a visit in 1872 to Louisiana, where he had relatives in the cotton business, he painted The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (1873, Musée Municipal, Pau, France), his only oil painting to be bought by a museum in his lifetime. Other subjects from this period include the racetrack, the beach and cafe interiors.
Influenced by Japanese prints and especially by photography, Degas diverged from the traditional ideas of balanced arrangements. He introduced what appeared to be accidental cutoff views, off-center subjects and unusual angles, all quite carefully planned. Sometimes he effected a remarkable balance by giving special weight to the focus of interest, as in Woman with Chrysanthemums (1865, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY) and Foyer of the Dance (1872, Louvre). Gradually, Degas turned away from the medium of oil painting, perhaps because of his failing eyesight. He produced more freely executed, pastels and charcoal drawings. A number of his oil paintings and sculptures may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. Many of his most celebrated works, including The Absinthe Drinker, The Rehearsal (1882) are in the Louvre, Paris.
Ranked among the greatest of French artists, Edgar Hilaire-Germain Degas profoundly influenced the worlds artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pablo Picasso.
View all the degas oil painting art reproductions.
Jacques-Louis David
Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix
Return to the famous world artist biography home page.
Every oil painting reproduction is a 100% hand painted oil painting on canvas done in the traditional manner.
Edgar Hilaire-Germain Degas, French, art museum reproduction oil painting reproductions, art reproduction oil painting, famous art artwork copy oil paintings reproductions, famous artist painters reproduction oil painting art reproductions oil paintings, famous old masters oil painting reproduction, famous artists painters copy oil painting copies, portraiture oil painting, wholesale art, wholesale oil painting art reproductions, Impressionist, theatrical oil paintings, nude female human figure nudes oil paintings, dancing ballerinas, ballet oil paintings, Cotton Exchange New Orleans, Chrysanthemums, Absinthe Drinker, impressionism oil paintings, the dance rehearsal, race horse oil paintings, racetrack, cafe interiors, Edgar Hilaire-Germain Degas biography.
|
