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:
c.1855. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
1856-57. Oil on canvas. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.
1857. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
1857. Oil on canvas. City Museum and Art Gallery, Burmingham, UK.
1858-1860. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
1861. Oil on canvas. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
c.1861-1864. Oil on canvas. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France.
1862. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
c.1863. Oil on canvas. Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal.
1860s. Pastel on paper. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, Russia.
c.1863. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
c.1865. Oil on canvas. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA. Read Note.
1865. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
c.1860-62. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London, UK.
1861. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
1858-67. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. Read Note.
1865. Oil on paper, mounted on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
c.1865. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
1865. Oil on canvas. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Read Note.
c.1866. Oil on canvas. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.
:
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.