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| | Degas, Edgar | (French, 1834-19217) |
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| | Degas was born in Paris in 1834 to a wealthy family. He began studying law, but quickly switched direction and, in 1885, enrolled at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He traveled throughout Europe and abroad to study the classics and spent a lot of time in Italy leaning the techniques of Mantegna, Botticelli, and Poussin. After returning to Paris in 1861, Edgar Degas became interested in Biblical paintings, which were coveted among art patrons. | | Though his historical and Biblical work was a commercial success, Edgar Degas was soon drawn to more contemporary subjects. This lead him to the racetrack and ballet studio, which would become his most famous inspiration.
| | After 1874, Edgar Degas withdrew from the Salon and began showing his work alongside the paintings of other Impressionists such as Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro. His style was distinctive, however, with a strong focus on draftsmanship, portraiture, and composition. Many times he used unconventional compositions and unorthodox visual angles, where the figures in his paintings were cut off at the edges of the frame. Like many artists of his time, his eyesight began to fade as he grew older, and he passed away in Paris in 1917.
| | Works cited: | | http://www.biography.com/impressionists/degas-bio.jsp |
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