Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas said "It is all very well to copy what one sees, but it is far better to draw what one now only sees in one's memory. That is a transformation in which imagination collaborates with memory."
Degas Two dancers resting
BIOGRAPHY
Edgar Degas Dancers at the barre 1900

Degas, Edgar (1834-1917) French, one of the founders of impressionism, famous for his paintings, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is known as a classical painter of modern life, masterfully capturing movement with half of his works depicting dancers.

Degas was the only Impressionist to truly bridge the gap between traditional academic art and the radical movements of the early 20th century, a restless innovator who often set the pace for his younger colleagues. Acknowledged as one of the finest draftsmen of his age, Degas experimented with a wide variety of media, including oil, pastel, gouache, etching, lithography, monotype, wax modeling, and photography. In his last decades, both his subject matter and technique became simplified, resulting in a new art of vivid colour and expressive form, and in long sequences of closely linked compositions. Once marginalized as a “painter of dancers,” Degas is now counted among the most complex and innovative figures of his generation, credited with influencing Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and many of the leading figurative artists of the 20th century.

Degas’ artwork can be found in major museums around the world.