FREE ESSAY ON EDGAR DEGAS

EDGAR DEGAS

Edgar Degas was born on July 19, 1834 in Paris and died on September 26, 1917. Degas was
part of the Impressionism period. Degas was the son of a wealthy banker, and his
aristocratic background instilled into his art a haughty, yet sensitive quality of
detachment.
In the early 1840's, the female ballet dancer became his favorite scene. He sketched from
live models in his studio. Alot of the ballet dancers in his paintings where usually
either on the stage, entering the stage, or resting and getting ready to perform. His
paintings were mostly from an oblique angle of vision.
After Degas eyesight slowly failed and he went blind he turned thereafter to sculptures,
and modeling figures and horses out of wax. These sculptures remained in disrepair in his
studio, and were only cast in bronze, after his death.