Edgar Degas was a French artist born in the city of Paris. His full name was Hilaire Germain Edgar, and he has lived all his life in his hometown. Edgar's father was a banker by profession, and his mother was originally from New Orleans, in the United States.
As a child, Edgar had a deep passion for music as his mother was once an opera singer while his father used to arrange music for recitals held in the Degas' home. To pursue his love for music, Degas was sent to the Lycee Louis-le-Grand where he took up classical education.
In addition to music, Degas was skilled in painting and drawing. He found support and motivation from is father who was talented and passionate about art. By the time he was 18 years of age, Degas had a rare opportunity to copy or replicate art techniques by various artists whose works were featured at the Louvre. With this opportunity, he was able to create exceptional copes of the Raphael while studying the styles of Eugene Delacroix and Ingres, among other contemporary painters.
In the year 1955, the young artist was admitted to the Academie des Beaux Arts, which is now known as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. After about a year of studying in this institution, Degas decided to leave school and pursue more time in Italy where he learned to paint and explore numerous places in this fine country.
While in Italy, Degas decided to copy some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who were considered as some of the artist's inspirations. The masterpiece of these artists became the source of inspiration to the young artist.
As a child, Edgar had a deep passion for music as his mother was once an opera singer while his father used to arrange music for recitals held in the Degas' home. To pursue his love for music, Degas was sent to the Lycee Louis-le-Grand where he took up classical education.
In addition to music, Degas was skilled in painting and drawing. He found support and motivation from is father who was talented and passionate about art. By the time he was 18 years of age, Degas had a rare opportunity to copy or replicate art techniques by various artists whose works were featured at the Louvre. With this opportunity, he was able to create exceptional copes of the Raphael while studying the styles of Eugene Delacroix and Ingres, among other contemporary painters.
In the year 1955, the young artist was admitted to the Academie des Beaux Arts, which is now known as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. After about a year of studying in this institution, Degas decided to leave school and pursue more time in Italy where he learned to paint and explore numerous places in this fine country.
While in Italy, Degas decided to copy some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who were considered as some of the artist's inspirations. The masterpiece of these artists became the source of inspiration to the young artist.
However, the group had a conventional concept of beauty. They ended up making Degas feel as though his works did not matter, and these were quite tough to handle. So he improved his style when he met Edouard Manet who was his fellow artist. According to Degas, artists should consider taking a newer approach to painting, as reflected in his works.
In the year 1868, the artist was tasked to become among the members of avante-garde artists throughout that time. These renowned artists included Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet and Manet. They frequently met at the Cafe Gerbois in France where they discussed different modern art techniques that were often presented in their artworks.
When Degas returned to his hometown in 1873, he was joined with other artists including Sisley and Monet who made up the Societe Anoyme des Artistes. The group was dedicated to setting up art exhibits that were not under the control of the Salon. Eventually, these became the very same artists who referred to themselves as Impressionists. These artists also held their initial impressionist exhibition in 1874. Among the subjects featured in Degas' work were images of women set in modern times such as ballet dancers, laundresses and milliners.
As the years passed by, the group of artists had eight other impressionist exhibitions where Degas often featured his own works. Several works by Degas were featured here including The Dance Class, The Dancing Class, Dancers Practicing at the Bar, and Woman Ironing. He also had a famous sculpture called The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer, which became controversial, yet admirable at the same time.
His final exhibit featuring his impressionist artworks was in 1886. Here, he presented ten of his paintings, and these all included nude women in different bathing stages. However, these paintings also became the common topic of controversy. For instance, there were some people who referred to the women featured in the paintings as ugly while others considered his works as a brilliant means of presenting women based on his particular theme.
Degas lived an interesting life throughout the 20th century, as he earned much praises and respect for his works. However, he was not as active during this period as he was more involved in becoming an art collector and promoter of his masterpieces. The artist was also never married, yet he became involved with a number of women.
Although the artist was regarded as among the finest impressionist painters in the world, his works had mixed reviews from people in the following years after his death. Some people viewed him as too involved in presenting women in sexualized portraits, which was one of the reasons why the artist was alienated from the modern art critics.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that his early works were indeed impressive and inspirational at the same time. Thus, this artist is indeed among the best ones in history who is worth all the praises he received in his lifetime.
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