Spanish Dance by Edgar Dega - Essay Example

Artwork Edgar Dega’s Spanish Dance Artist’s Edgar Dega Museum Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Form Function Line: curved Curved lines are used to show the motion and the dance moves and positions in a piece of artwork. The moves exemplify the form of movements and the posture that is taken in the piece is developed from the artist’s fascination with the dance move and style Color: metallic bronze The color adds to the effects of the sculpture as it compounds and exemplifies the movement through the attraction towards the art piece.

Composition: Wax Wax was the main method of use by the Edgar Degas as he looked to create different positions of his pieces through the wax. The wax that he used was the best method for ensuring that the positions that he wanted to show were conceivable as it would be tricky to make a piece that had so much movement through a hard solid material. Size/Scale: Small, ranging 15 7/8 The size was important in configuring the sculptures and ensuring that the different shapes were formed through the process.

Material: Bronze The materials that were used to cast the sculptures was bronze to highlight a different shade on all Edgar’s sculptures that were later displayed in some of the world’s highly renown museums Context The sculpture was made in (1896-1911) but was later casted into bronze after his death in 1917 Edgar Degas was an artist who was famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings that depicted his passion that was mainly in dance. Edgar Degas was a French renowned artist and although he is regarded as one of the founders of impressionism he regarded himself as a realist.

Impressionism was drawn from realism and although he may have refuted the claim he stands out as one of the best impressionists of his time(Guggenheim, 2015). He was perfect in depicting movement on majority of his artwork and had a passion in music that he clearly highlighted through the different pieces of art that he made over the years. Most of Edgar’s work was not publicly acknowledged until after his death when the paintings were later spread to different museums around the world. The art pieces were mainly focused on the high members of the society as he would make pieces where the members were enjoying themselves in operas and other gathering places such as the café.

The interest and fascination in music and making artwork pieces that depicted movement is however fascinating as he looked to make the pieces that were mainly focused on different art forms. Edgar had a fascination with the Ballet dancers of the opera that he drew inspiration from while he also captured and made sculptures of women nudity when washing and drying their bodies(Guggenheim, 2015). Upon his death in 1917, many of his pieces of sculpture were found dilapidated in his studio made from plasticize, wax and clay but were later casted for preservations and shipped to some of the leading museums in the world(Guggenheim, 2015).

Although he disliked the tag given to him as the impressionist or as the original contributor of impressionism in art some of his best works came when he was leading a group of impressionists and was looking for the money to help and sustain himself. Edgar had sold his father’s house and some of his paintings and paid off his brother’s debt to preserve their family’s legacy. He was thereby left without resources that would help him and therefore left to sell his pieces to gain any form of penance for sustaining himself.

He had to ensure that the pieces were sold at exhibitions and looked to make different shows with a group of other artists that later came to be known as impressionists (Guggenheim, 2015). Although he was not able to change the minds of the people who saw him as an impressionist he tried to include non-impressionists in his group but that did not form any part in eliminating the rumors that were spreading in the media and among the different artists then. Degas later developed a passion for photography and took pictures of many of his friends through the use of lamplight and was later withdrawn and isolated as the years passed as he believed that a painter should have a personal life.

The Spanish dance depicts his belief and attitude towards music and captures the method that he had adopted to make the paintings and sculptures. Although he may have been withdrawn by the end of his life he had contributed so much to art and its different forms through his works but never got the opportunity to showcase all his talents publicly at the end of his life. The Spanish Dance is an identity of the different works that he has made through the use of wax that were later discovered at his home upon his death.

Although the piece was later casted the original form of wax gives the sculpture its different forms and qualities that are important to its overall structure. Reference Guggenheim. Guggenheim. February 28, 2015. http://www.guggenheim.org/new- york/collections/collection-online/artwork/1008 (accessed March 8, 2015).