Edgar degas biography pdf Continue Iler-Hermen-Edgar de Gus was born on July 19, 1834, over a branch of a Neapolitan bank owned by his family on St. George Street, Paris. Edgar was the eldest of five children, and it was only when he reached his thirties that he began to spell his last name, Degas, a name that would adorn some of the most remarkable paintings of the era. Edgar's family was rich and well connected. His father, a banker, encouraged his son's interest in art and ensured that Edgar received a classical education at Lycee Louis le Grand. Many of the family's friends were collectors. They often allowed the young Edgar to study and copy the paintings inspired by him. Although degas was originally supposed to work in law, he was asked to develop his artistic talents, and his privileged background allowed him to travel to France and Italy, often staying with family members. He used this time to visit monuments, cathedrals and see famous works of art. In Italy, he studied and copied aspects from artists such as Michelangelo and da Vinci, developing his skills and honing his technique. Degas was an experienced draftsman, he often chooses one aspect from a painting or figure and creating a portrait of it. His style at this time was very different from the art that we now associate with Degas, his main theme is the history of painting. In 1855 Degas met the artist Auguste-Dominic Ingres. Ingres had to have a big impact on Degas' development and reportedly gave the young Degas the following advice: Draw a line, young man, draw a line. By 1856, Degas had a place in the Ecole de Beaux Arts, but continued to supplement his formal training with trips to Italy. In 1858 he did some research on his aunt and her family. In 1867, he finally completed this famous work, The Bellelli Family or Family Portrait. In 1861 he went to Normandy with a childhood friend, and it was here that he did the research of horses. Back in Paris, Degas continued to study with the old masters, and he reportedly copied Velazquez Infanta Margarita to a copper plate at the Louvre in 1862, when he was interrupted by another artist, Edouard Manet. Degas was two years younger than Manet, they became friends and rivals. Degas first exhibited his work in the salon in 1865 and annually for five years thereafter, but he felt that his paintings of history such as the Scene of War in the Middle Ages were overlooked. Gradually he moved away from the history of paintings and decided to depict more modern matter as Manet. His work Steeplechase - Fallen Jockey in 1866 meant a change of direction. Degas joined the army in 1870 National Guard. These were turbulent times in France, when Paris was attacked by Prussian troops. After the war, he stayed with relatives in New Orleans for some time, and his American painting Cotton Office in New Orleans, 1873, was the only work that was acquired by the museum in his own life. Around the same time, at the age of 36, Degas began to experience vision problems that plagued his artistic career. He initially blamed the exposure to new Orleans' bright light and the cold impact from his period security. However, it is likely that he had some form of retinopathy. There is no doubt that the gradual deterioration of the vision caused the artist great grief. There was no cure for his eye problems at the time, and although he sought advice from numerous ophthalmologists, he learned to work in a controlled environment and wore glasses to cut out the light. As his vision deteriorated further, he compensated through various methods and media. It is known that he asked models to help him distinguish colors. Overtime his original selection of dark colors has changed, now he uses bright, expressive colors and bold brush strokes. In the 1870s, Degas, like Manet, began to paint modern Paris, focusing on people, their roles and their leisure activities, often in a state of motion. He had little interest in the landscape and, of course, never drew en plein air. If he painted landscapes, it was done within his carefully controlled studio environment, from memory or his imagination. What began to put Degas's work apart was the type of scenes he drew, his unusual point of view and the use of light. He often drew bodies, hitting different poses or movements. His behind-the-scenes images offered intimate views of the subject. He will focus on the physiology of men, their clothing and professions, the athletic, graceful bodies of his ballerina, in stark contrast to the heavy bodies of the laundromat women, which he also drew. He painted people from all walks of life in modern Paris, in a variety of settings. After growing frustration in the exhibition in the salon, Degas gravitated to a group of avant-garde artists, including Manet. They often meet at the Guerbois Cafe on Sundays and Thursdays to discuss the art world and make plans for the future. From 1874 to 1886, they organized eight independent exhibitions, which became known at the Impressionist Exhibitions. The term Impressionist was coined by an art historian, but the name stuck. The first exhibition took place on the boulevard Capuchinov, 35, in the studio of French photographer Felix Nadir. The exhibition opened on April 15 and will last a month. Among the artists were Cezanne, Renoir and Chesley. Degas showed ten plays, including dancers and racing scenes. Although the first exhibition was not a common In terms of sales, a new style of art has been exposed in public. At the time it seemed quite shocking and was very different from the more formal scenes and art style that now existed. For many, including critics, this new art style has emerged as a slick of colors that have only created shapes when viewed at a certain distance. Degas believed that more mainstream artists should be included in the exhibition, and this, along with Degas's personal conflicts and other divisions within the group, eventually saw them break up. Degas exhibited works in all but one of the exhibitions, but he always decontested the term impressionist and the scandal he created. He considered himself independent and realistic, often urging other artists to paint real life. In the 1870s he did numerous studies of ballerinas. He found that these images were popular and sold well. After his father's death in 1874, he worked hard, exhibited and sold his work to pay for family debts. Degas' numerous notebooks describe in detail how he will organize access to ballet rehearsals and make sketches from performances. He would make numerous notes showing thought-processes for his work, failing to give details about their body shape or clothing. More than half of Degas' work was related to dance scenes, about 1500 ballet dances. At the time, ballet dancers were known as les petit rats, and the art form was low. Instead of a romantic vision of ballet and costumes, Degas preferred to capture the painful, hard work of the dancers or his little monkeys, as he chose to call them. During this period he also made numerous etchings and experimented with lithography and monograph. Degas' skill as a draftsman was appreciated, but some of his works were shared by art historians. The naked bodies he exhibited in 1886 created a stir, but his most controversial work was probably his sculpture of the Little Dancer at the age of fourteen, exhibited in 1881. Many viewers found it shocking, describing it as ugly. However, Degas captured the reality of Parisian life in ballet for a young rat. As his own wealth grew, Degas was able to collect many of the works he admired, including works by El Greco, Monet, Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin. He particularly admired Ingres, Delacroix and Daumier and acquired some of their works too. Degas also collected Japanese engravings that may have influenced the way Degas composed his paintings with his unusual points of view and the pruning of his subjects. As Degas' vision deteriorated, he began to experiment more with other media outlets. He moved away from the oil on the canvas and began to use pastels, using layers of textures, working quickly on paper. Just as his subject has changed, as has his techiques. It women, often combing their hair or drying, have become more simplistic, the backgrounds more abstract. In the 1880s, Degas became interested in photos, often taking pictures of family and friends after dinner, even yourself by the light of a lamp. His photographs were meticulously compiled, as were his paintings. During the Dreyfus case, a political scandal in the 1890s involving a Jewish artillery officer wrongly accused of treason, Degas's anti-Semitic leanings and staunch conservative stance became clearer. He broke off relations with his Jewish friends and, as he never married, became more and more reclusive. The deterioration of vision also made him prone to bouts of depression. However, as an artist, Degas believed that the artist should live separately. He was argumentative in nature and can be difficult, but he was loyal to his friends and very witty. In later years Degas experimented more and more with sculpture. He made his last sculpture in 1912, when he was forced to leave his studio, which was to be demolished. Edgar Degas died at the age of 83 on September 27, 1917. It was part of a remarkable era in French history known as La Belle Epoch.