Style and Technique of the Art of Edgar Degas - Research Paper Example

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, (1834-1917), also known as Edgar Degas, is a famous French artist known for his outstanding works in sculpture, painting, drawing and printmaking. Degas is regarded as one of the supreme founders of impressionism, although he rejected this term and favored being called a realist (Armstrong 1991, 39). He was born in Paris, France on 19th July 1834, and died in the same location on 27th September 1917. He was the eldest of the five kids in the family. His works influenced others in the same field like Mary Cassatt, Jean-Louis Forain, Walter Sickert and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This article will give a clear analysis of how style and technique changed in his art during the period from 1870 to 1890 in regard of the realist and impressionist movements. This paper will also explain why Degas was obsessed with the ballet theme. Degas identifies with the subject of dance because most of his works depict dancers. Most of the paintings expose emotional complexity and illustrations on human isolation. Degas claimed that prior to his career, he yearned to become a history painter; a profession based on his satisfactory preparation in his thorough academic training, and close study of classic art. Early in his 30s, he changed course, and by bringing customary methods of a history painter to tolerate on modern subject affairs, he became a conventional painter of modern existence. Degas started his artistic career in 1859, where he moved into a Paris studio and got permission to begin painting The Bellelli Family (Armstrong 1991, 42). Furthermore, he worked on several other paintings like Sémiramis Building Babylon in 1860; Alexander and Bucephalus and the Daughter of Jephthah in 1859–60 and Young Spartans around 1860. The most common paintings from Degas in the period from 1870 to 1890 are: The Dancing Class (1870), The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage (1874), The Rehearsal Onstage (1874), The Dance Class (1874), Dancers Practicing at the Barre (1877), The Dance Lesson (1879) and Dancers, Pink and Green (1890) (Thomson 1988, 21). These paintings play a vital role in the change of style and technique in Edgar’s career life (Tinterow 1988, 18). The painting of the Dancing Class, ca. 1870, was the earliest of Degas’s infinite scenes of ballet dancers going through their paces in the rehearsal rooms and studios of Paris Opera. Later on when Degas was assessing his artworks, he lamented that he had no eye for such challenging work. He complained further in the late 70s that he had painted so many dance examinations without even seeing them. In this sort of painting, the center dancer is Josephine G. The sketch depicts that the dancer awaits a starting note from the ballet master (Baumann and Karabelnik 1994, 32). The accessories in this picture comprise of an empty violin case, a top hat, and a watering can which are used by Degas to enliven his ballet pictures. The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage (1874) is also another painting developed by Degas. In this painting tried different techniques. He mixed oil colors freely with turpentine; traces of oil and pastel above pen and ink sketches on cream-colored wove paper, laid on a Bristol embark and mount on canvas. The lack of color in this portrait links with Degas’s interest in the new technique of photography. The Rehearsal Onstage (1874) is the second of the two variants of the composition in the Metropolitan’s collection. This portrait was executed over an ink drawing on paper. This painting depicted impressionism of art in the European 19th century. The materials used in this portrait include a Bristol board, canvas, pastel and wove paper. This painting is also similar portrait on The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage (1874) which lacks color. The dance class painting was done in 1874. This piece of work constituted of Degas’s most ambitious figural compositions. The picture presents twenty-four women, ballerinas, and their mothers while they wait for the dance execution. The class was being conducted by Jules Perrot who was one of the most renowned dancers and ballet instructors. This painting was custom-made in 1872 as part of an agreement between Degas, the singer, and collector Jean-B. Faure. The work of art was delivered in November 1874 after the flashing work done on it two years after (Mannering 1994, 23). The other painting done by Degas was the Dancers Practicing at the Barre (1877). This painting gives an arbitrary glance through an open door into a studio. Degas created a humorous correspondence between the watering can and the dancer at the right. The handle on the side imitated the dancer’s left arm. The handle at the top mimics the head and the spout approximates her raised leg and right arm. After the conclusion of the work, Degas lamented on the visual pun and requested his friend, Henri, to modify the picture (Baumann and Karabelnik 1994, 40). The material used in this painting comprised of media mixed on canvas. The other milestone made in Degas’s work is the painting on the Dance lesson completed in 1879. This pastel was owned previously by Gustave C., who had bought it from the impressionist exhibition in 1879. In 1894, Gustave bequeathed it to Renoir who sold it afterwards (Tinterow 1988, 23). Degas made adjustments in the portrait. He did so by toting up strips of paper to the right and at the top. However, he distorted the dancer’s pose in this piece of work. Lastly, Degas created the Dancers, Pink and Green portrait in 1890. Degas added zest to this painting with a massive shadow of a top-hatted patron of the Opera. Degas created a scene whereby two dancers were performing their pas de deux on stage. The other dancers in the portrait wait in the wings as they dawdle with their patron. In addition, there are no actual drawings for this picture and Degas seems to have worked directly on the image. He mixed his colors with white to make them obscure. Later on, Degas painted a modification of this picture with the costumes of the dancers in blue (Armstrong 1991, 34). The technique employed in this portrait was painting oil on canvas. The above analysis shows how Degas’s style and technique had changed over 20 years. Degas was often identified as an impressionist, but this expression had an unsatisfactory description on him. Impressionism originated from the 1860s and 70s and grew from the realism movement of painters like Corot and Courbet. Impressionists normally painted aspects connected to realities of the world by using brilliant colors. They chiefly focused on the effects of lights. However, Degas differed from the impressionists because he never adopted the impressionist color fleck. Degas explained that there was no artwork which was less impulsive than his, and he was an anti-impressionist based on critics who reviewed his shows. Degas’s style reflects his profound esteem for most of the mature masters and his admiration for Eugene Delacroix and Jean A. Dominique Ingres. Degas is described as an impressionist than as a member of any movement. In his earlier paintings, Degas showed his upcoming mature painting style. As an important artist in his lifetime, Degas is referred to as an impressionist founder. However, his work crossed many stylistic limitations; his dynamic paintings, sketches and his bold color experiments lastly tied him to the impressionist movement. Most of his paintings, pastels, sculptures, and paintings are prominent on display in numerous museums. The coloristic techniques that Degas used are the main cause why many individuals drew the conclusion that he was of the impressionist movement. Degas also made paintings of nudes who he had previously photographed. An outstanding example is the La Toilette pastel he made which was composed of a lady combing her hair (Thomson 1988, 34). There is a clear depiction of Degas’s obsession with the ballet theme. This is because, early in his lifetime, he was studying dancers along with female nudes, who became a chief motif in his work. Degas frequently visited the back stage and other public areas of the Opera building in Paris where he had clear snaps of motions of the ballet dancers and later painted them (Thomson 1988, 27). At his career peak as a painter, he admired natural beauty. This is the main cause of his attraction to pastels regarding ballets. In conclusion, after Degas passed away, his heirs located 150 sculptures of wax that were unrepaired (Kendall et al. 1998, 45). The sculptures could be cast in bronze except for the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The bronzes were cast from surmoulages and were smaller than other sculptures (Kendall et al. 1998, 34). This piece is available in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for viewing. His sudden death came about due to a brain stroke. In addition, Degas was seen to have an unusually quarrelsome nature and held strongly to anti-Semitic views (Armstrong 1991, 10). He belittled other painters who painted in ordinary air. He also believed that, as a painter, it was not possible to have a personal life, whilst he never married and usually isolated himself from the society (Armstrong 1991, 9). References Armstrong, Carol. 1991. Odd man out: Readings of the work and reputation of Edgar Degas. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. Baumann, Felix and Karabelnik, Marianne. 1994. Degas portraits. London: Merrell Holberton. Kendall Richard, Degas Edgar, Druick W. Douglas and Beale Arthur. 1998. Degas and the little dancer. New Haven: Yale University Press Mannering, Douglas. 1994. The life and works of Degas. Great Britain: Parragon Book Service Limited. Thomson, Richard. 1988. Degas: The nudes. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Tinterow, Gary. 1988. Degas. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Gallery of Canada. Read More