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Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French Impressionist painter. He
was born in 1834 in Paris, France. His father was a banker, and his family was
wealthy, so Degas received a good education from an early age. In 1852, Degas
started to learn painting. Later, when Degas met Ingres, Degas kept his advice
in mind: "Young man, if you want to make a name for yourself, you must
sketch, draw from memory and sketch, and draw more lines."
Artistic
Career
There are three stages of Degas' artistic career. The first
stage was from 1852, when he learned to paint, until 1867 when he changed his
style. As a young man, Degas was influenced by the neoclassical art of Ingres and copied a large number of Renaissance paintings, becoming an
accomplished master of sketching. He always showed a serious and classical
style in his work, and his use of line reached a level of refinement and
sophistication that was unmatched even by Ingres' many followers. In 1860, Degas
came into contact with the Japanese art of Ukiyo-e printmaking, and his
subsequent works were heavily influenced by it.
The second phase was from 1868 to 1880, when various new trends
of Impressionism influenced Degas. In 1868, when Degas was 34 years old, he met
many other Impressionist painters and was then influenced by various trends,
and his paintings began to change dramatically in terms of subject matter and
technique. He became interested in horse racing, ballet, and other
"modern" things in Parisian society at the time and began to relax in
his use of line, forming a passionate, leaping line in his paintings. Degas
spent most of his life painting dancers, including around 1,500 paintings,
drawings, crayons and sculptures. He was not the only artist to repeatedly
depict the same or similar subjects; Claude Monet used water lilies and Vincent
van Gogh used sunflowers to express emotion. The fact that they painted a
particular subject repeatedly
provided them with a
deeper understanding of the subject they painted.
The third phase was from 1880 to 1917, when Degas's eyesight
deteriorated, and his lines became rougher. His main subjects in the phase were
bathing women, and he began to create sculptures. In 1885, at the age of 51,
Degas' eyesight began to fail, and by this time, he had already begun working
on a series of paintings with washerwomen and bathing women as the subject. His
temper also became increasingly arrogant and irritable. Perhaps due to both
physical and psychological effects, Degas' painting style became more spirited
and rugged, which in turn gave him more freedom and relaxation in his painting.
Painting
Style
Degas' works break many "rules" by not having a single
primary focus but rather choosing several secondary points of interest that
allow the viewer's eye to jump from place to place. He used pastels and oil
sticks more often because they are faster than oil paints. On the other hand,
pastels and oil sticks give paintings a stronger impact and create thicker
lines that have a sketch-like effect. Dynamics are a feature of many of his
subjects,
such as dancers, racehorses,
and so on. The composition of his paintings enhances the dynamics of the
figures, and Degas' paintings can be seen more in the classical, realist, or
romantic style, a style that has influenced other painters as well.
Representative
Paintings
Degas' works on ballerinas represent his contribution to Impressionism and the world of painting, which earned him the title of
"The Painter of Dancers". The Dance Class, Dancers
in blue and Ballet Rehearsal are all Degas' works.
Using the dancers' movements as a medium, he deliberately pursued the
expression of light and color. His innovative compositions, meticulous
depictions, and thorough expression of movement make him one of the masters of
late 19th-century modern art.
Quotes
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others
see."
"Beauty is a mystery, but no one knows it anymore. The recipes, the secrets are forgotten."
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