As an artist Edgar Hilaire Germain de Gas is unique and refreshing in that he can not be totally categorised into any of the various trends of his era. Placing too much emphasis on line and draftmanship to be considered an impressionist, moving away from traditional patterns, to develop a style of his own makes it possible to call him a classicist only for a short time early in his career. Similarly he stands apart from the Romantisists, Realists and Neo-Impressionists to be in a category of his own. His reputation as a loner in terms of his art style was mirrored somewhat in his social life, although he had a few close friends such as Manet, Renoir, Gaugin and Monet he was a lonely man remained unmarried and was never known to have had any love affairs.
Degas was born July 19, 1834 to a wealthy Parisian family. His father Auguste moved from Naples to Paris and changed the family name from Degas to de Gas to make it appear he came from a noble French background. Degas' schoolboy dreams where of becoming an artist, and he was greatly influenced by his lifelong admiration of Ingres plus many visits to the Louvre and Italy to view the work of the great masters. In his last years fading eyesight saw him painting less and turning more to sculpture and modelling.
Degas' inspiration to create came from his passion for the Parisian life with its theatres, dancehalls, circuses and perhaps his favourite subjects of all the racetracks and ballet. It is estimated Degas made approximately 1500 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings of dancers. Perhaps the difficulty in classifying Degas into a particular category of art is a consequence of the true genius of a man able to paint as a classicist, as an impressionist, as a realist and more, with a brilliant combination of them all to place him in a class of his own.
Bellelli
Family 1860
The Cotton Exchange in New Orleans(1873)
The Dance Class (1874) ,
The Absinthe Drinkers (1876)
Music Hall Singer (La Chanson du Chien) (1875-7)
