Cultural Connections

Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas was a man who loved art. He was a painter and a sculptor. His talents were varied, but he is most well known for painting and drawing ballerinas. He is also famous for the bronze sculptures he made of ballerinas as well as racehorses. He was born in Paris, France, on July 19, 1834, and his parents named him Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas. Degas grew up in an artistic family. His dad was a banker who loved music and would often invite musicians to come perform at their house. His mom, Celine, was an amateur opera singer — an American from New Orleans, La. Even though his family appreciated the arts, Degas’ dad wanted him to be a lawyer and sent him to the University of Paris in 1853. He didn’t do much studying while he was in law school. Shortly after arriving at law school, he met an artist named Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres who encouraged him to continue with his art. Ingres inspired Degas, and he decided to go to art school at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He learned a lot at this school and soon departed for Italy, where he stayed for several years. While he was in Italy, Degas tirelessly practiced painting. He returned to Paris in 1859 and continued to paint portraits of people and historical scenes. His work was very traditional for his time, but things changed in 1862 when Degas met fellow painter Edouard Manet. Manet was a rebel of sorts. He believed that artists needed to use more modern techniques and paint more modern subjects. Manet’s friends, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley, believed this, too. They all used to gather and talk about creative ways that artists could engage the world. These men, along with several other painters, formed the Société Anonyme des Artistes (Society of Independent Artists) and eventually became known as Impressionists. The impressionist style of art captures a scene or image of an object the way a person would see it if they only caught a quick glimpse of it. The colors are usually bold, and there is not always a lot of detail in the paintings. Although Degas was a great friend with these men and an active member of the group, he considered his work more realist than impressionist. He did participate in their exhibits, though, and it was during this time that he painted some of his most famous paintings — “The Dancing Class” (1871), “The Dance Class” (1874), “Woman Ironing” (1873) and “Dancers Practicing at the Bar” (1877). In 1880, he also sculpted “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer.” Degas and his friends were not afraid to change the way things were done in their time, and they ended up having a big influence on the art world.