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Edgar Degas was born into the family of bankers of aristocratic extraction.
His mother died in 1847, so the boy's father, Auguste de Gas, and grandfather,
Hilaire de Gas, were the most influential figures in his early life. Despite
his own desire to paint he began to study law, but broke off his studies
in 1853. He frequented Félix Joseph Barrias’s studio and spent his
time copying Renaissance works. In 1854-1859 he made several trips to Italy,
some of the time visiting relatives, studying the Old Masters; he painted
historical pictures and realistic portraits of his relatives: Portrait
of Marguerite de Gas, the Artist's Sister. (1858-1860), Portrait
of Achille de Gas in the Uniform of a Cadet. (1856-57), Portrait
of Hilaire de Gas, Grandfather of the Artist. (1857) – 87 year-old
head of the family.
By 1860 Degas had drawn over 700 copies of other works, mainly early Italian
Renaissance and French classical art. The most important historical work
of the period was Spartan Girls Challenging
Boys. (c.1860-62). It was exhibited only in 1879 at the fifth
Impressionist show, and he kept it in his studio throughout his life.
It was with a historical painting The Suffering
of the City of New Orleans. (1865) that Degas made his salon
debut in 1865. The picture got little attention. It must have seemed anachronistic
and artificial: a medieval landscape setting and naked women bodies were
used to symbolize the sufferings of the American city of New Orleans, which
was occupied by Union troops in 1862 in the course of the Civil War. The
Sufferings... turned out to be his last historical painting.
In the troubled post-war years Degas undertook his longest journey. In
1872 with his younger brother René, he traveled to New York and
New Orleans, where his uncle, his mother's brother, Michel Musson, ran
a cotton business. Degas stayed in Louisiana for 5 months and returned
to Paris in February 1873. In America he fulfilled a number of works. Courtyard
of a House in New Orleans. (1872) shows part of the Musson’s
home in Esplanade avenue and possibly the room that served Degas a studio
during his stay. The most important work resulting from his visit to the
USA was Portraits in a New Orleans Cotton
office. (1873).
After his return from America, Degas had closer contact with dealers such
as Durand-Ruel, in an attempt to bring his work to public attention independently
of the Salon. In 1874 Degas helped organize the 1st Impressionist exhibition.
He always found the term “Impressionism” unacceptable – mainly, perhaps,
because he did not share the Impressionists’ over-riding interest in landscape
and color. He did not care to be tied down to one method of painting. Nonetheless,
Degas was to participate in all the group exhibitions except that of 1882.
Degas used the group and the exhibitions high-handedly to promote himself.
His strategy seems to have been to show off his own diversity at the exhibitions,
for he always entered works that were thematically and technically very
varied.
Since late 1860s Degas frequently painted jockeys and race horses: Race
Horses. (c.1866-68), Carriage
at the Races. (1869). From 1870 he increasingly painted ballet
subjects: Dance Class. (1871),
Dancing
Examination. (1874), The Star.
(1876-77). Among other reasons they were easier to sell. Degas’ ballerinas
have determined his popular image to his day.
The rapid worsening of his eye condition caused him to avoid all society;
he drew pastels, modeled statues in wax and extended his art collection.
In 1909-1911, due to failing eyesight, he stopped work completely. After
Degas’ death about 150 small sculptural works were found in his studio,
and unsurprisingly his subjects tended to be race horses or dancers.
Bibliography:
Degas. Leningrad-Moscow. 1965.
Degas. by R. Rusakova. Moscow. 1968.
Edgar Degas. Correspondence. Memoirs of Contemporaries. Moscow.
1971.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
Degas
by Robert Gordon, Andrew Forge (Contributor), Richard Howard (Translator).
Abradale Press, 1996.
Degas
Ballet Dancers Cards by Edgar Degas. Dover Pubns, 1997.
Twelve
Degas Dancers Bookmarks with Bookmark by Edgar Degas, Carol
Belanger Grafton (Designer). `Dover Pubns, 2001.
Degas
and America: The Early Collectors by Ann Dumas, David A. Brenneman.
Rizzoli, 2001.
Degas
and the Dance by Jill Devonyar, Richard Kendall. Harry N. Abrams,
2002.
Degas
and New Orleans: A French Impressionaist in America by Gail
Feigenbaum, Jean Sutherland Boggs. Rizzoli, 2000.
Degas
Sculptures: Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes by Joseph
S. Czestochowski, Anne Pingeot, Daphne Barbour. Distributed Art Publishers,
2003.