Edgar Degas

1. Edgar Degas

2. The Beginning • Edgar Degas • born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas • In July 19, 1834 • At 8 rue Saint-Georges in Paris, France • Fun fact: • (Degas condensed his aristocratic surname to be a proper bourgeois artist.)

3. Family Life • born in Paris, France • the eldest of five children • father, Auguste, a banker, was French, and his mother, Célestine, an American from New Orleans. • moderately wealthy • Mother died when Degas was thirteen, after which his father and grandfather were the main influences on his early life. • At age eleven, Degas began his schooling with enrolment in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, graduating in 1853 with a baccalauréat in literature. • age of eighteen, he had turned a room in his home into an artist's studio • 1853 he registered as a copyist in the Louvre. • His father expected him to go to law school. • Degas duly enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in November 1853, but made little effort at his studies. Edgar Degas - Self Portrait Saluting 1865-66

4. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • In 1855, Degas met Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, whom he revered, and whose advice he never forgot: "Draw lines, young man, and still more lines, both from life and from memory, and you will become a good artist.“ • In April of that same year, Degas received admission to the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied drawing with Louis Lamothe, under whose guidance he flourished, following the style of Ingres.

5. Title: Portrait d'homme, Head of a Man [1856-1858]Orientation: Portrait

6. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • In July 1856, Degas travelled to Italy, where he would remain for the next three years. • 1858, while staying with his aunt's family in Naples, he made the first studies for his early masterpiece, The Bellelli Family.

7. The Bellelli Family 1859-60 Musée D'Orsay, Paris, France 98.43 inch wide x 78.74 inch high

8. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • He also drew and painted numerous copies after Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and other artists of the Renaissance but, contrary to conventional practice, he usually selected from an altarpiece a detail that had caught his attention—a secondary figure, or a head which he treated as a portrait.

9. A Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), 1865 Oil on canvas29 x 36 1/2 in. (73.7 x 92.7 cm)H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.128)

10. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • Social Issues When studying Degas's works of art, one is not made aware of these political issues; there is no overt attempt on his part to deal with a broad political context. One is made keenly aware, however, of many social issues and practices of his day. Degas's images of laundresses, for example, point to the growth of the bourgeoisie and the development of service industries, which employed mainly women. During the time Degas painted, the Paris fashion industry flourished, as reflected in, for example, his images of milliners. These works depict the hierarchical structure of French society, which distinguishes the bourgeoisie from the lower classes.

11. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • The Ballet In the 1850s ballet was dominated by female dancers, after men had historically been the principal performers. Attending the ballet, specifically as a subscriber, was in fashion during Degas's time. The subscribers, typically middle-aged men, were permitted behind the scenes to watch the dancers practice. These encounters often resulted in the older men seeking sexual favors from the young dancers. This behavior is downplayed in Degas's works; however, the subscribers are often visible in the rehearsal scenes.

12. The Dance Lesson, c.1879 Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Manhattan, New York 1879

13. Education, Influences, and Inspiration • Bathing Much controversy and contention surround Degas's pictures of women bathing. Even today, there is great disagreement about the identities of these women and Degas's reasons for drawing and painting them. Many scholars focus on how these late works speak to contemporary attitudes on bathing practices and personal hygiene during the 1880s. Perhaps the most useful way of looking at Degas is to consider all aspects of his work: stylistic characteristics; emotive, or psychological, content; subject matter; and social issues.

14. After the Bath- Woman Drying her feet 1886 http://www.edgar-degas.org/the-complete-works-3-48-3-0.html

15. Movement and Style • Degas is best known as an Impressionist and was a prominent member, if not the strongest promoter, of the group. • Degas organized what is now known as the first Impressionist exhibition and planned many of the subsequent shows. He initially called himself and his compatriots "realists," which pointed to their interest in drawing inspiration from their own environments and experiences.

16. Movement and Style • Degas allied himself with other Impressionists, such as Pissarro, met with them at the famous Café Guerbois, and participated in all but one of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. • Degas often worked from memory, sketching from models who posed in his studio.

17. In a Cafe (The Absinthe Drinker) 1875-76

18. Movement and Style • did paint some landscapes, he was known to have thought the subject minor, choosing instead to study the gestures and poses of human figures in interior settings • His work is similar to that of ÉdouardManet (considered a Realist by art historians rather than an Impressionist) who also depicted ordinary people in contemporary dress (or undress). • Degas's portraits share with Manet's an interest in the complexity of human expressions and the articulation of everyday experience.

19. Reputation (Success, Achievements, etc.) • in the several years following 1860, Degas had a number of paintings accepted in the Salon. These works received praise from Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and the critic, Castagnary. • Degas soon joined forces with the Impressionists, however, and rejected the rigid rules, judgements, and elitism of the Salon—just as the Salon and general public initially rejected the experimentalism of the Impressionists. • Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship. The suite of nudes Degas exhibited in the eighth Impressionist Exhibition in 1886 produced "the most concentrated body of critical writing on the artist during his lifetime. ... The overall reaction was positive and laudatory." His La Petite Danseuse de QuatorzeAns, or Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, was probably his most controversial piece, with some critics decrying what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming."

20. The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer model executed ca. 1880; cast in 1922 Overall (confirmed): 38 1/2 x 17 1/4 x 14 3/8 in. (97.8 x 43.8 x 36.5 cm) [n.b.: fluffiness of skirt skews measurement] H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929

21. The End • Died 27th of September, 1917 • At 83 Years Old • Paris, France

22. Works Cited • "Edgar Degas - Self Portrait Saluting 1865-66 Painting." Encore Editions - Prints and Canvas Giclee Reproductions. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.encore-editions.com/edgar-degas-self-portrait-saluting-1865-66>. • Edgar Degas - The Complete Works. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.edgar-degas.org/>. • "Edgar Degas - The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Metmuseum.org. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Degas/html/index.html>. • "Edgar Degas Biography." Biography.com. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Edgar-Degas-9269770>.