Picture of the day

Edgar Degas   - Ballet Scene. c.1878-80. Pastel on monotype. Whereabouts unknown.

Edgar Degas was born into the family of bankers of aristocratic extraction. His mother died in 1847, so the boy's father, Auguste de Gas, and grandfather, Hilaire de Gas, were the most influential figures in his early life. Despite his own desire to paint he began to study law, but broke off his studies in 1853. He frequented Félix Joseph Barrias's studio and spent his time copying Renaissance works. In 1854-1859 he made several trips to Italy, some of the time visiting relatives, studying the Old Masters; he painted historical pictures and realistic portraits of his relatives: Portrait of Marguerite de Gas, the Artist's Sister. (1858-1860), Portrait of Achille de Gas in the Uniform of a Cadet. (1856-57), Portrait of Hilaire de Gas, Grandfather of the Artist. (1857) - 87 year-old head of the family.

After his return from America, Degas had closer contact with dealers such as Durand-Ruel, in an attempt to bring his work to public attention independently of the Salon. In 1874 Degas helped organize the 1st Impressionist exhibition. He always found the term "Impressionism" unacceptable - mainly, perhaps, because he did not share the Impressionists' over-riding interest in landscape and color. He did not care to be tied down to one method of painting. Nonetheless, Degas was to participate in all the group exhibitions except that of 1882. Degas used the group and the exhibitions high-handedly to promote himself. His strategy seems to have been to show off his own diversity at the exhibitions, for he always entered works that were thematically and technically very varied.
            Since late 1860s Degas frequently painted jockeys and race horses: Race Horses. (c.1866-68), Carriage at the Races. (1869). From 1870 he increasingly painted ballet subjects: Dance Class. (1871), Dancing Examination. (1874), The Star. (1876-77). Among other reasons they were easier to sell. Degas' ballerinas have determined his popular image to his day.