Edgar Degas (1834–1917)
He was a French painter, sculptor, and engraver, known mainly for his works depicting the world of ballet. He is one of the leading Impressionist artists, although his works also feature elements of Realism and the Italian Renaissance.
The eldest son of wealthy banker Auguste Degas and Célestine Musson, Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas was born in Paris. His father belonged to a noble family from Brittany, which later moved to Naples during the French Revolution.
Many of Degas's renowned works are linked to the Impressionist movement, which included Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, August Renoir, and others. Although officially part of the Impressionist movement, Degas did not identify with its most well-known characteristics, which did not escape the critics of the time.
Many of his works are now preserved in the Musée d'Orsay.
Degas prefers to paint outdoors and from a distance, "what we only see in our memory." Addressing a painter, he says, "For you, natural life is necessary; for me, fictional life."
The well-known French painter had many problems, including blindness, which worsened after the age of 50 due to macular degeneration, painting exclusively with oil, and his poor eyesight forced him to change this technique to a drier one, thus resorting to pastels. With this type of material, he could make finer brushstrokes by bringing his face very close to the surface on which he was working.
This illness caused him to retreat further into his studio, spending weeks without leaving. He spent the last years of his life alone, blind and aimlessly wandering the streets of Paris. He died in 1917 without any descendants.
Author: Walter Rodrigues
