Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas was born in Paris in 1834 into a wealthy banking family. He studied briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts and revered the draftsmanship of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. From 1856 to 1859 he traveled in Italy copying Renaissance masters, and his early work consists mainly of history paintings and family portraits; A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers dates from this period, its sitter pushed unexpectedly to one side of the composition. From the 1860s he turned to modern Parisian life: theaters, cafés, racetracks, laundresses and bathers, and above all ballet dancers. He was one of the chief organizers of the Impressionist exhibitions, taking part in seven of the eight, but preferred to call himself a realist. Rarely painting outdoors, he composed carefully in the studio from memory and drawings, using cropped views and unusual vantage points inspired by photography and Japanese prints. The Dance Class and Dancers Practicing at the Barre capture everyday moments in the rehearsal room rather than the glamour of the stage. As his eyesight failed in later years he turned increasingly to pastel and to sculpture, including the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Degas died in Paris in 1917, and his explorations of composition and movement profoundly influenced later artists.