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Edgar Degas

1834–1917

Woman in a Tub c.1883
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Biography

Edgar Degas (UK: , US: ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, French: ھɛːʁ ɛʁɛ̃ ɛɡʁ ə ɡ; 19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings.

Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. Although Degas is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist, and did not paint outdoors as many Impressionists did.

Degas was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his rendition of dancers and bathing female nudes. In addition to ballet dancers and bathing women, Degas painted racehorses and racing jockeys, as well as portraits. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and their portrayal of human isolation.

At the beginning of his career, Degas wanted to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classical Western art. In his early thirties he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.

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Impressionism

Artworks

Left Right
  • Carlo Pellegrini

    Edgar Degas
    .1876–7
  • Head of a Woman

    Edgar Degas
    c.1874
  • Head of a Woman

    Edgar Degas
    c.1873
  • Miss Lala at the Cirque Fernando

    Edgar Degas
    1879
  • Woman at her Toilet

    Edgar Degas
    c.1894
  • Bed-Time

    Edgar Degas
    .1880–5
  • Grande Arabesque

    Edgar Degas
    c.1885–90, posthumous cast
  • Dancer Putting on her Stocking

    Edgar Degas
    c.1900, posthumous cast
See all 13

Artist as subject

  • Etching: 11, 28 February 1970 3, 16, 30 March 1970 (L.13)

    Pablo Picasso
    1970
  • Etching: 19 February 1970 (L.16)

    Pablo Picasso
    1970
  • Study for ‘He Knew Degas’

    William Roberts
    c.1938
    View by appointment
  • Distinguished Visitors at the Tate

    William Roberts
    1965
    View by appointment

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