Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) helped organise the Impressionist exhibitions, but his training and working methods set him apart from many of his colleagues. Born into a wealthy Parisian family, he studied drawing with Louis Lamothe and copied works in the Louvre. Time in Italy deepened his knowledge of Renaissance painting. He began with historical subjects before turning increasingly to the people and activities of contemporary Paris, including dancers, jockeys, laundresses and café performers.
Drawing remained the foundation of his art. The apparently accidental viewpoints of his pictures were often the product of repeated study and careful construction. A figure cut by the edge of the image, an oblique floor or an unexpected interval between people can interrupt conventional balance and create the sense of a moment observed. Japanese prints offered useful compositional possibilities, while the old masters continued to inform his treatment of the body.
Degas worked in oil, pastel, printmaking and sculpture, adapting each medium to different problems of movement and form. His dancers are frequently seen preparing, resting or practising, rather than simply performing for an audience. These subjects expose effort and repetition behind spectacle. The portraits and figure studies represented here extend that interest beyond the ballet. They invite us to look at posture, gesture and the arrangement of space, recognising that a convincing impression of immediacy can emerge from a highly disciplined process.
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