Degas ballet school. School Encyclopedia

Petr Kile

Edgar Degas (1834-1917). Collection of paintings.

Edgar Degas was born in Paris to an aristocratic family who ran a successful business, but died in 1873 heavily in debt. Brought up on the painting of the great masters in the Louvre and in Italy, where he took a special interest in the works Early Renaissance- Giotto, Ghirlandaio, Mantegna, Bellini, as well as Paolo Veronese, Degas, having opened a workshop, conceives a series historical paintings, which is also connected with the need to exhibit at the Salon for the sake of official recognition. Despite the most painstaking work, he did not really finish any of the major canvases.

At this time (1861), Degas met with Edouard Manet, who was only two years older than him, practically peers for whom the thorny paths of academism turned out to be alien. Manet already had followers, future impressionists, but Degas, like Manet, is not keen on new techniques of working on outdoors. The drawing, the basis are too important for him. classical painting, and balanced design. If the Impressionists were fond of the elusive play of light, Degas proceeded from nature, capturing the elusive too - movement, not just a gesture.

The death of his father forced Degas to pay part of his debts (he had brothers who, playing on the US cotton exchange, may have ruined his father) and for the first time to think about selling his paintings. At this time, very opportunely, a series of exhibitions of the Impressionists began (from 1874 to 1886), in which Degas also participated. In the sale of his paintings, the artist showed business acumen, according to family tradition.

Historical themes classical art left in the past. Like Manet and the Impressionists, Degas comes from the impressions of current life and art. He is attracted by ballet, because it is movement, the world of grace and femininity, life itself in all its manifestations.

“They call me a painter of dancers,” Degas wrote and added. “Ballerinas have always been just an excuse for me to portray wonderful fabrics and capture movement.” Noteworthy is the entry in the Diary of Edmond de Goncourt dated February 13, 1874, as evidence of Degas' beginning fame: “Yesterday I spent the whole day in the studio of an amazing artist named Degas. After many attempts, experiments, probing in all directions, he fell in love with everything modern, and in this modernity he fixed his gaze on laundresses and dancers. In fact, the choice is not so bad. Everything is white and pink; the female body in cambric and gauze is the most charming occasion for the use of light and delicate tones ...

Dancers pass before our eyes ... The picture depicts ballet foyer, where, against the backdrop of a bright window, the fantastic outlines of the legs of dancers descending the stairs loom; among all these billowing white clouds, the red spot of the tartan flies, and the funny figure of the choreographer stands in sharp contrast. And before us appear graceful curves of bodies, turns and movements of these little girls captured in nature.

The artist shows his paintings, from time to time supplementing the explanations with a reproduction of some choreographic figure, an imitation, in the language of dancers, of one of the arabesques. And it is truly amusing to see how he, standing on his toes, with his hands raised above his head, mixes the aesthetics of dance with the aesthetics of painting, talking about the impure tones of Velazquez and the silhouette of Mantegna.

Degas said to the Impressionists: "You need a natural life, I need an artificial one." But here we are talking not so much about open air, not about lighting, but about art, about the habitat of citizens, visitors to cafes, ballet, or the same laundresses and women who bring beauty to clothes and bodies. One should not think that the artist was an erotomaniac, to the naked female body, as well as to the dancers, he has a purely aesthetic, artistic interest, otherwise all these series would be unbearable as an amateur. He was fascinated by the elusive movements of a ballerina or a woman at the toilet, the grace and beauty of life without a shadow of sentimentality and beauty of salon painting.

Degas was vertically challenged, usually restrained, used to be quick-tempered. Relatives found him clumsy in his manner of speaking directly and even grumbling. At the same time, the talent of a mimic actor and even a clown was noted in Degas. french artist reminds me of the character of Valentin Serov.

Degas was not married. There is no information about the relationship of the artist with dancers and models, which indicates the impeccability of his behavior in relation to his models. It is believed that Degas received pleasure not from sexual intercourse, but from contemplation. female body. One does not exclude the other, especially for an artist who experienced catharsis only as a result of hard work. Others speculate that Degas satisfied intimate needs with prostitutes, converging with them incognito. You see, from his youth he wanted to be "famous and unknown", in his own words.

In the pastel technique, which corresponded to the talent of a draftsman, Degas achieved unsurpassed skill, which became his support with a weakening of vision, which is why he also took up sculpture. The colorful, iridescent palette captures and recreates movement. "Blue Dancers" is one of Degas's paintings, sunk into my soul in my youth, one of his amazing masterpieces.

Degas said: "You must have high performance about art; not about what we do in currently but about what you would like to achieve one day. It's not worth working without it." Auguste Renoir: “Degas was perspicacious. Was not the most revolutionary artist in all new painting? Here we are talking not so much about the technique of painting, but about the content of the artist's work, about the democratism of his worldview.

Edmond Goncourt wrote about Degas: “A highly sensitive person, capturing the very essence of things. I have not yet met an artist who, reproducing modern life, it would be better to capture her spirit. Someone finds Degas a dispassionate observer, fixing only his impressions in colors, about the same women, meanwhile Berthe Morisot claimed that Degas "sincerely admired the human qualities of young saleswomen in the store." Degas' pastels are notable not only for their bizarre play of colors, but also for the dignity of his models, who are selflessly busy with their work, because dancing both at rehearsals and on stage is work.

“Throughout his life,” wrote Paul Valéry, “Degas was looking for in the image of a naked figure, considered from all points of view, in an incredible number of poses, in all kinds of movements, that single system of lines that would express with the greatest accuracy not only a given moment, but also the greatest generalization. Neither grace nor imaginary poetry are included in his goals. His works do not sing anything. In the work, some place must be left to chance, so that some kind of spell can arise that excites the artist, seizes his palette and directs his hand. But Degas, a man by nature strong-willed, never satisfied with what is obtained immediately, possessing a too critical mind and too educated the greatest masters, - never gave himself up to direct pleasure in work. I like this rigor."

These features were inherent in the highest degree and Serov. This is the humanism of the era, perhaps the highest rise of European culture.

Selection and placement of paintings by Alexander Krylov

"Aria of the Dog" 1877 Heymeyer Collection, New York

"Star" 1877 Musee d'Orsay, Paris

"Singer with a glove" 1878

"Absinthe" 1876, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

"Bathroom" 1885, Hill Steed Museum, Farmington

"Combing her hair woman" 1885, Hermitage, St. Petersburg

"Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus" 1879, National Gallery, London

"The Bellelli Family" 1858

Early period. 1854-1861

"Cotton Exchange" 1866-1868

"Madame Valpinson with chrysanthemums"

"Portrait of Miss Cassette" 1878

"Concorde Square. Crew wheels rustle"

"Edmond and Teresa Morbilli"

"Rotters at the podium" 1866-1868

"Ironer"

"Ironers"

"Interior (Rape)" 1869

"Lady's Hat Shop"

"At the modist's"

"At the modist's"

"On the Races"

"At the Races in the Country"

"On the beach"

"At the ballet"

"Orchestra"

"Orchestra pit"

"Edmond Duranti"

"Ballerina and a woman with an umbrella" 1882

"Four dancers" 1884

"Cabaret "Ambassador"" 1876

"Toilet" 1885

"Woman in the bath" 1885

"Woman washing her back" 1886

"Woman Coming Out of the Bath"

"Combing her hair woman" 1887-1890

"After bathing" 1885

"Woman Drying Herself After Washing"

"Woman at the toilet"

"After washing" 1884

"Prima" 1877

"Ballerinas bowing" 1885

"Harlequin and Columbine" 1886

"Madame Cardinal Ballet Class"

"Ballet School" 1877

"Final Arabesque" 1877

"Resting Dancer"

"Tambourine Dancer"

"Dancers"

"Dancers on the stage. Bows"

"Landscape with dancers"

"Dancer in Green"

"Three dancers in the rehearsal room" 1873

"Dancers"

"Dance Lesson" 1872

"Dancer at the barre" 1880

"Stage Rehearsal"

"Dancers practicing at the barre"

"Two young dancers"

"Ballet on the stage of the Paris Opera"

"Ballet Stage"

"Two dancers" 1898-1899

"Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer"

"Rehearsal"

"Seated ballerina" 1879-1880

"Three Russian dancers"

"Dancer" Hermitage

"Dancers in pink" 1880-1885

"Ballet rehearsal"

Edgar Degas "Coast at Ebbe"

E. Degas's favorite subjects were galloping horses, ballerinas at rehearsals, laundresses and ironers at work, women dressing or combing their hair.
Most famous work E. Degas - "Blue Dancers".

E. Degas "Blue Dancers" (1897). Paper, pastel. 65 x 65 cm. Museum fine arts them. A. S. Pushkin (Moscow)
The dance theme is the artist's favorite theme, it was repeatedly repeated in his drawings, oil painting and pastels. But for the beauty of color harmony and composition, this work is recognized as the best in this subject.
"Blue Dancers" created by him in late period creativity, when the artist's vision was greatly weakened, and he began to work with large color spots.

Features of the work of Edgar Degas

Common to all the Impressionists, including Degas, was an interest in the subjects of modern life and the desire to capture it on the canvas with a new, in an unusual way. But the landscape, which occupied a central place in the work of the Impressionists, was of little interest to Degas, and he did not seek to capture on the canvas the elusive play of light and shadow, like Claude Monet. But trembling and luminous paints on the canvases of this artist directly bring him closer to the Impressionists.

E. Degas "Two Resting Dancers" (Blue Dancers) (1905-1910). Musee d'Orsay (Paris)
The canvases of Edgar Degas are often filled with a special drama of images, he manages to convey this drama thanks to an unusual composition, a bold movement of lines, and shifted figures. Sometimes his paintings resemble a photograph, in which part of the plot remains behind the scenes.

E. Degas "Absinthe" (1876). Canvas, oil. 92 x 68 cm. Musée d'Orsay (Paris)
In this painting, Degas depicted real people: artist Marcelin Debutin and actress, cabaret star Ellen Andre, at a table in the New Athens cafe. Posing for Degas, the actress accurately conveyed the image of a simple woman. In front of her on the table is clearly not the first glass of absinthe (an alcoholic drink. The most important component of absinthe is an extract of bitter wormwood). The woman's shoulders are slumped, her gaze is dull. In front of her companion is a glass of mazagran, a popular hangover remedy. The action most likely takes place in the early morning.
On the table next to the woman is a carafe of water to dilute the absinthe. For visitors, newspapers are laid out, fixed on a wooden plank, a glass of matches. Morning light streams through the mirror behind the couple.
The man looks to the side, and the woman looks indifferently straight ahead. People are together, but they are lonely and divided.
The gift of observation, the accuracy and vigilance of the eyes of E. Degas were his hallmarks. He easily and accurately caught gestures, postures, characteristic movements, and then conveyed them on his canvases with extraordinary truthfulness.
Degas always thought carefully about the composition of his paintings, made many sketches and sketches. Each of his works is the result of observation and hard work. He did not like impromptu, his canvases are always completed and thought out.
If at the beginning of his professional career Degas painted in the traditional manner with oil on canvas, then in mature years he experimented a lot with various equipment or with a combination of materials. Often he did not draw on canvas, but on cardboard, he used different technique within one picture. Degas "tirelessly searched for a new technique."
The artist was also engaged in photography, engraving and sculpture. Like many of his contemporaries, he was influenced by Japanese graphics with its unusual angles, which he later resorted to himself. Degas developed his own, unique view of the impressions of the world around him, he stubbornly studied human body.

E. Degas "Dancing Lesson" (1873-1875). Musee d'Orsay (Paris)
“Throughout his life,” wrote Paul Valéry, “Degas was looking for in the image of a naked figure, considered from all points of view, in an incredible number of poses, in all kinds of movements, that single system of lines that would express with the greatest accuracy not only a given moment, but also the greatest generalization. Neither grace nor imaginary poetry are included in his goals. His works do not sing anything. In the work, some place must be left to chance, so that some kind of spell can arise that excites the artist, seizes his palette and directs his hand. But Degas, an essentially strong-willed person, never satisfied with what is obtained immediately, possessing a too critical mind and too educated by the greatest masters, never gave himself up to direct pleasure in work. I like this rigor."
In recent years, Degas has become the main material for drawing pastel(most often produced in the form of crayons or rimless pencils, having the form of bars with a round or square section). Pastel is on the verge between drawing and painting, thus allowing the artist to become "a colorist with a line", as Degas himself said.

From the biography of the artist

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Ha, or Edgar Degas, was born in 1834 in Paris in the family of the manager of the French branch of a large bank, founded in Italy by the grandfather of Edgar Degas. He was the eldest of five children. At the age of 13, Edgar lost his mother, which was a serious blow for him. Edgar later changed his surname from de Ga to the less "aristocratic" Degas.

E. Degas "Young Spartans" (1861)
But already in the early 1860s, Degas again became interested in scenes from modern life, and first of all in horse racing.

E. Degas "Before the start" (1862-1880). Musee d'Orsay (Paris)
In 1861, Degas met Edouard Manet, friendship with him continued until the end of Manet's life. Then there was an acquaintance with other impressionist artists. But he did not accept all the techniques of this direction, for example, he did not like to work in the open air, preferring the world of theater, opera and cafes. He believed that attention was scattered in the air, he preferred the environment of the studio. In addition, the accuracy of his images was completely atypical for impressionism.
What brought him closer to the Impressionists was that he still knew how to catch movement. They - through the moving and quivering world, through the constant cycle of nature, and Degas - through the movement of man.

E. Degas "Washing" (1886). Hill Stand Museum (Farmington, Connecticut, USA)
After the final exhibition of the Impressionists in 1886, the artist stopped exhibiting his work publicly, preferring to sell his paintings at a high price through several sales agents.
Degas was a very secretive person, there was almost no information about the artist's personal life.
By the end of the 80s, Degas realized his desire to "become famous and unknown." He was practical, but closed in a narrow circle of close friends. He exhibited his paintings in only a select few public places, which aroused interest in him from respectable art magazines in Paris.
By 1882, his eyesight began to deteriorate sharply, he more often began to turn to pastel technique and sculpture.
Almost 10 years before his death, Degas practically stopped writing. He lived alone. Edgar Degas died on September 27, 1917 in Paris at the age of 83, being a recognized master and authoritative painter, considered one of the brightest representatives of impressionism, an original creator.
“Painting requires a little mystery, some uncertainty, some fantasy. When you put in a perfectly clear meaning, people get bored” (Edgar Degas).

E. Degas "Star of the Ballet" (prima ballerina) (1876-1878). Musee d'Orsay (Paris)

We sometimes know surprisingly little about the people whose work has become world heritage. Their works can be recognizable, popular and fabulously expensive, and biographies are printed in huge numbers, but how much do we really know about the life of the great? Some events come down to us in the form of dry biographies, other cases, perhaps more interesting, as anecdotes.

A well-known joke says that if the picture shows ballerinas, then this Edgar Degas (1834-1917). This is partly true, because the whole days of his life were devoted to trying to capture the ephemeral charm of dance, which makes ballet a truly magical spectacle. But still, such a remarkable figure in history as Degas, with his passions, experiences and personal tragedy, deserves much more attention than he is sometimes given, calling him a "painter of dancers."

It’s worth starting at least with the fact that the artist’s signature was a kind of pseudonym - out of revolutionary motives, he combined his own surname Ga and the particle de, which testified to noble origin. Unlike, the painter's family did not require such measures to be taken to thereby hide the fact of kinship. On the contrary, Edgar's father, co-owner and manager of one of the major Parisian banks, was himself no stranger to art, although he undoubtedly wanted his offspring to leave his "frivolous" hobby and enter the Faculty of Law. But permission to paint and funds, in which Edgar was not deprived, subsequently became one of the most profitable investments. IN difficult year after the death of his father, he managed to pull the whole family out of debt, for the first time seriously thinking about selling his own paintings.

Academism had little appeal to Degas from the very beginning. Possessing the ability to accurately draw from nature, for which others would sell their souls, he did not like to work in the open air. And although he was just as brilliant at copying, he did not use other people's techniques in his works, and even at the time of his apprenticeship he tried to act according to his own views on painting. All his activities were built on these principles: Degas, with his desire for accuracy, close to cinematography, brought special freedom to the impressionist movement, a special kind of truth of life, conveyed graphically.

No one further had such an influence on Degas as. Edgar took his first steps in the studio of a student of his idol, Louis Lamotte, who at that time was very fashionable and famous in wide circles painter. For the sake of vague prospects of becoming an artist, Edgar, to the displeasure of his father, left the University of Paris, where he studied for several years at the Faculty of Law. But the availability of funds and parental love did their job, and in 1855 the young man entered the school fine arts, where the transformation of Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas began, into the world-famous "painter of dancers".

He devoted his attention to ballerinas, probably to the same extent as, later on, Toulouse-Lautrec to cafe-chantante beauties. That is, not all. In truth, the similarity of the features of the biography of these painters turns out to be amusing and a little frightening, if someone decides to compare them. In addition to their aristocratic origin, they were united by a commitment to similar themes, the dynamism of the dance, conveyed by special means, and the audacity of the composition, which led to embarrassment of critics and the public. But if Toulouse-Lautrec from the very beginning possessed the ability to convey movement with a few careless energetic strokes, then Degas took years to come to his own style.

While studying with Lamotte, he passionately fell in love with the Ingres lines, and the freshness that he later discovered for himself in the paintings of the Italian masters. Parental support allowed the young man to go on a long journey through Italy, where he was able to get acquainted with the works of the great classics. The youth of Degas the artist was marked by throwing in search of means of expression and plots that would fully meet his understanding of beauty. Even the family joked about Edgar's pedantry, complaining that it was possible to stop his work on the picture only by forcibly taking it away. Returning to Paris, he rushed to the halls of the Louvre, where day after day he diligently copied canvases, striving to achieve perfection and achieving incredible similarities. However, his own experiments with content and style were not very successful. In the 60s, his compositionally complex and large-scale paintings on antique themes, sent for exhibitions at the Salon, became the object of criticism and the subject of disputes about the artist's competence in this genre. Degas tried to combine innovation, giving modern features to the heroes of antiquity, and pedantic adherence to the canons, however negative feedback hit hard on his ego.

But still, at that moment, Degas managed to create something that anticipated his further discoveries in painting. The portrait of the Belelli family, relatives from his father's side, completed already in Paris in 1860, subtly stood out in a number of his works, perhaps due to its immediacy. Perhaps the point is the warmth of family affection, but the dry and official manner did not touch this portrait. Live poses of all family members, the originality of the composition and colors, reminiscent of the masters of the Renaissance, the lack of formal stiffness inherent in portraits and photographs of that time betrayed those deep processes that later made Degas's painting so special.

Degas entered the world of impressionism, shining with novelty, thanks to his acquaintance with. But if loyalty to their friendship was kept until the end of Manet's life, then Degas soon withdrew easily from attachment to the ideals of the new trend. The traditions of working in the open air did not correspond to perfectionism and the desire to control all the nuances. However, impressionism was reborn in the paintings of Degas in an exciting tenderness. female hands, into captivating clear tones of stage outfits, into impetuous lines of light and shadow. His painting became the personification of the impression of dance, admiration for the fragile moment of life, a movement that will be interrupted in a second and will not be repeated again. This was one of the reasons why so many mental strength and Degas's attention was given to ballet dancers. This type of art, like nothing else, embodied the fleeting splendor and brilliance of all that is beautiful, and the colossal exhausting work that stood behind them.

What is surprising, if the majority of viewers recognize the “Blue Dancers” instantly, then some canvases are completely unfamiliar to the general public. In Russia, Degas is known for such flying, slightly blurred and cropped scenes, as if in a photographic lens. However, a whole layer of works, on the contrary, is exquisitely accurate in execution - such paintings as "Dance Class" are recognizable by the cut corners, by the dynamic and at the same time graceful poses of young dancers. However, there is not a single stroke that would make the author suspect of negligence, because both facial features and the smallest gestures are written accurately and subtly, and the fussy movements of the models are extremely natural. As if you can see with your own eyes the atmosphere of a routine lesson, where someone wearily leaned against the wall, someone checked their readiness, and someone had a ribbon on their bodice. Everything here, like words in impeccable prose, is in its place, there is not a single superfluous or missing detail - right down to the blurry perspective of the roofs in the mirror on the classroom wall. Such Degas, perhaps, is not familiar to everyone. And it is noteworthy that paintings of this kind, with their graphic and realism, are especially popular in private collections and art galleries America. We love pastel Degas, slightly languid, with beautiful fragile ballerinas in the semi-darkness of the stage.

One can imagine that the whole life of the artist was full of only idle observation. However, he perfectly represented the other side of life, devoid of any kind of romance. Driven by ideas of duty and honor, soon after the start of the Franco-Prussian war, he, like Manet, volunteered for the front in 1870. It was there that after some time the first signs of vision problems appeared, which subsequently severely poisoned Degas' last years.

Demobilized in 1871, he traveled for some time in Europe and America. Upon his return, he was to face grim reality face to face. The family's debts left after the death of his father, and multiplied by the inept game on the stock exchange, demanded payment, and Degas rushed about in an attempt to get the necessary amounts. There was no time left for thoughtful and almost endless work on sketches, but at some point the painter discovered that his canvases were in demand, and very wealthy citizens flickered among the buyers. So he, having finished with his debts, approached the period covered with fame and love of the public.

He finally got close to the desired shape when he found the effect that pastel applied over oil underpainting gave. She, like nothing else, was suitable for enhancing the expression of the dance and at the same time softening the overall tone. This method was not completely innovative, it was widely used by many impressionists. But Degas was different.

He easily moved from one mood and group of subjects to another, managing to capture the atmosphere of superbly lit theatrical stages, small ballet studios and semi-dark Parisian closets. He did not disdain to portray, after the dancers, simple laundresses or ironers. On the contrary, the latter invariably turned out to be more naturalistic, and the atmosphere of exhaustion and dull fatigue that always accompanies hard everyday work probably resonated in his soul.

The transition from the light elegiac sadness of the ballet to despondency and even apathy in The Ironers or Absinthe involuntarily brings the viewer back to the thought of what could be going on in the heart of a person who transfers this mortal fatigue to the canvas. Photographs and portraits depict Degas with an invariably meek, slightly tired face and sadness in his eyes. What was the artist so painfully looking for, and what kind of drama was reflected in his whole life?

It is still unclear whether a woman could have caused this. Despite the great many the most beautiful ladies, who posed for Degas, it seems that none of them managed to outweigh his cravings for loneliness and freedom. The spiritual worship of a woman as an ideal overshadowed bodily attraction, and even the scenes painted in brothels did not force contemporaries to imagine Degas as a voluptuary.

Perhaps he foresaw longing and loneliness last days when the disease took away the most valuable thing in life - his paintings. For almost ten years, while his eyesight continued to deteriorate rapidly, a heavy disposition and a sense of helplessness aggravated Degas' isolation. Only his closest friends attended his funeral, and he asked them to refrain from pompous eulogy.

Wax figures were a small outlet. Losing his sight, the artist confided to his fingers that tenderness that had previously been given to the brush. Now he had to repeat the curves of the female body in wax in order to again acutely feel the movement, plasticity and grace, no longer inaccessible to the eye. All the same ballerinas and horses, so beloved by Degas, sometimes instantly turned back into a pile of soft wax - he was rarely pleased with himself here either. Only after his death were the few surviving figurines cast in bronze, and their originals went to private collections.

In addition, in the 80-90s Degas created whole line monotype - prints from a metal plate on which paint is applied. Misty, strange images, in which the dynamism of the approaching new century is gaining momentum, conveyed in landscapes with smoke from factory chimneys. Eerily dark, forbidden brothel scenes. And finally, such a work as Frieze of Dancers, once again devoted to ballet, but at the same time strikingly modern.

Degas came into this world as a person who could become one of millions of others, and left it as one of the greatest painters. Who knows how many secrets still remain inaccessible to contemporaries in the biography and work of Degas. Secrets that may be revealed, or forever lost in the maelstrom of history.

Degas in a Green Jacket - 1855-1856 - PC

Degas had little interest in the landscape, which occupied a central place in the work of the Impressionists, and he did not seek to capture on the canvas the elusive play of light and shadow that so fascinated Monet. Degas grew up from traditional painting which meant so little to other Impressionists. Degas can be attributed to impressionism only thanks to the trembling, luminous play of colors. Common, both for Degas and for the rest of the Impressionists, was, perhaps, only greedy interest to the picturesque scenes of modern life and the desire to capture it on the canvas in some new, unusual way.

Ballet at the Paris Opers - 1877 - The Art Institute of Chicago (United States) - Drawing - pastel

Degas himself said: “One must have a high idea of ​​art; not about what we are doing at the moment, but about what we would like to achieve one day. It's not worth working without it."
Auguste Renoir said of his friend: “Degas was perspicacious. Was not the most revolutionary artist in all new painting hiding behind a black frock coat, a hard starched collar and a top hat?

The Green Dancer - circa 1880 - Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Spain)

The irony of fate, but it was in the 1890s, after the collapse of the Impressionist group, that Degas's works became closest in style to Impressionism. However, the blurred forms and bright tones that he began to use during these years were more the result of a progressive loss of vision than the artist's desire for the colors and shapes characteristic of impressionism. Spontaneity was not inherent in the artist, and he himself said: “Everything that I do, I learned from the old masters. I myself do not know anything about inspiration, or spontaneity, or temperament.

The special drama of the images is very often born from an unexpectedly bold movement of lines, an unusual composition, reminiscent of a momentary photograph, in which figures with those left behind the frame separate parts the bodies are shifted diagonally into a corner, the central part of the picture is a free space (“Opera Orchestra”, 1868-1869, Orsay Museum, Paris; “Two Dancers on Stage”, 1874, Warburg and Courtauld Institute Gallery, London; “Absinthe”, 1876, Orsay Museum, Paris).
To create dramatic tension, the artist also used directional light, depicting, for example, a face divided by a spotlight into two parts: illuminated and shaded (“Cafechantan in the Ambassador”, 1876-1877, Museum of Fine Arts, Lyon; “Singer with a Glove”, 1878, Vogt Museum, Cambridge).
This technique was subsequently used by A. de Toulouse-Lautrec in posters for the Moulin Rouge.

1869 - l "Orchestre de l" Opéra Huile sur Toile 56.5x46.2 cm Paris, musée d "Orsay

"Two dancers on stage", 1874

Absinthe drinker (In a cafe) (1873) (92 x 68) (Paris, Musée d'Orsay)

Edgar Degas "Cafechantan "Ambassador" (Cafe - Concert at the Ambassador).
1876-1877 Pastel. Lyon Museum of Fine Arts, France.

His gift of observation, the accuracy and vigilance of his gaze were incomparable. And the power of visual memory, he could only be compared with Daumier. Degas's observational skills and phenomenal visual memory allowed him to capture gestures, postures with extraordinary accuracy, to grasp characteristic movements on the go and convey them with extraordinary truthfulness.
Degas always thought carefully about the composition of his paintings, often making many sketches and sketches, and in the last years of his life, when his fading eyesight no longer gave him the opportunity to look for new themes, he again and again turned to his favorite images, sometimes translating the contours of figures from old canvases using carbon paper.

"Singer with a glove". 1878
Canvas, pastel. 52.8x41.1 cm.
Fogg Fine Art Museum, Harvard, Cambridge.

Song of the dog (1876-1877) (55 x 45) (New York, private collection)

The works of Degas with their strictly adjusted and at the same time dynamic, often asymmetrical composition, precise flexible pattern, unexpected angles, active interaction figures and spaces combine the apparent impartiality and randomness of the motive and architectonics of the picture with careful thoughtfulness and calculation. "There was no art less direct than mine," - this is how the artist himself evaluates own creativity. Each of his works is the result of long-term observations and hard, painstaking work to transform them into an artistic image.

Washerwomen carrying linen (1876-1878) (private collection)

In the work of the master there is nothing impromptu. The completeness and thoughtfulness of his compositions sometimes makes us recall the paintings of Poussin. But as a result, images appear on the canvas that it would not be an exaggeration to call the personification of the instantaneous and random. In french art late XIX centuries of Degas's work in this respect are diametrically opposed to the work of Cezanne. In Cezanne, the picture carries all the immutability of the world order and looks like a completely completed microcosm. In Degas, it contains only a part of the powerful stream of life cut off by the frame. Degas' images are full of dynamism, they embody accelerated rhythms contemporary artist era. It was the passion for conveying movement - this, according to Degas, determined his favorite subjects: images of galloping horses, ballerinas at rehearsal, laundresses and ironers at work, women dressing or combing their hair.

False Start (1869-1870) (Yale University Art Gallery)

Before the Race - 1882 - Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (USA) - oil on panel

At the races. the Start - 1861-1862 - Fogg Museum of Art (United States) - Painting - oil on canvas

At the Races - circa 1868-1872 - Private collection - Painting - oil on canvas

Ballet Class, The - 1881 - Philadelphia Museum of Art (United States) - Painting - oil on canvas

Such methods involve precise calculation rather than freedom and inspiration, but they also speak of the extraordinary ingenuity of the artist. IN creative search Degas stands as one of the most daring and original artists of his time. At the beginning of his professional career, Degas proved that he could masterfully paint in the traditional manner in oil on canvas, but in his mature years he experimented extensively with different techniques or with a combination of materials. He often painted not on canvas, but on cardboard and used different techniques, such as oil and pastel, within the same picture. The passion for experiment was in the artist's blood - it was not for nothing that back in 1879 one of the observers who visited the Impressionist exhibition wrote that Degas was "tirelessly looking for new techniques."

At the milliner's (1881) (69.2 x 69.2) (New York, Metropolitan)

The artist's approach to engraving and sculpture was just as creative. Degas's manner was formed under the influence different artists. He deeply revered, for example, Ingres, and he himself considered himself a writer in the traditional manner that Ingres professed. This influence is clearly seen in early works ah Degas - clear, classical in spirit, with clearly defined forms. Like many of his contemporaries, Degas was influenced by Japanese graphics with its unusual angles, which he himself resorted to in his subsequent works. In the paintings of Degas there are many traces of an unexpected European art fragmentation on Japanese kakemono woodcuts. Photography, which Degas was fond of, made the composition of his canvases more fresh and unusual. Some of his works give the impression of a snapshot, but in fact this feeling is the fruit of a long and painstaking work of the artist.

Breakfast after Bath - circa 1895 - Private collection - pastel

Edmond Goncourt wrote about Degas: “A highly sensitive person, capturing the very essence of things. I have not yet met an artist who, reproducing modern life, would better capture its spirit. ”In the end, Degas managed to develop his own, unique view of the impressions of the world around us. He is sometimes described as a cold, impassive observer, especially when writing portraits of women, however, Berthe Morisot, one of the prominent artists of that time, said that Degas "sincerely admired the human qualities of young saleswomen in the store." Few other artists studied the human body as hard as Degas. They say that by the end of the session, Degas's models were not only deadly tired from a long posing, but also painted stripes, which the artist, losing his sight, applied to their bodies as markings that helped him to more accurately determine the proportions.

After the Bath - circa 1883 - Drawing - pastel.

“Throughout his life,” wrote Paul Valéry, “Degas was looking for in the image of a naked figure, considered from all points of view, in an incredible number of poses, in all kinds of movements, that single system of lines that would express with the greatest accuracy not only a given moment, but also the greatest generalization. Neither grace nor imaginary poetry are included in his goals. His works do not sing anything. In the work, some place must be left to chance, so that some kind of spell can arise that excites the artist, seizes his palette and directs his hand. But Degas, a man by nature strong-willed, never satisfied with what is obtained immediately, possessing a too critical mind and too educated by the greatest masters, never gave himself up to direct pleasure in work. I like this rigor."

After the Bath - circa 1885 - Musee du Louvre (France) - Drawing - pastel

After the Bath - circa 1890-1895 - Fogg Museum of Art (United States) - Drawing - pastel

Renoir once remarked that “if Degas had died at fifty, he would have been remembered as an excellent artist, and nothing more. However, after fifty, his work expanded so much that he actually turned into Degas. Perhaps Renoir is not quite right here. By the time Degas turned 30, he was already creating canvases that were included in the treasury of world art. On the other hand, Renoir correctly noted that Degas's mature works are more individual, they really "expanded" in style - this is what distinguishes them primarily from the artist's early works. Continuing to firmly believe that drawing in painting is the basis of the foundations, Degas at the same time begins to care less about the beauty and clarity of the contour, expressing himself with the help of a variety of forms and richness of color.

At the Milliner's - 1882 - Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Spain) - Drawing - pastel

This expansion of style coincided with Degas's increased interest in pastels, which gradually became his main medium for drawing. In his oil paintings, Degas never tried to depict the broken texture loved by the rest of the Impressionists, preferring to paint in a calm, even style. However, in pastel work, the artist's approach becomes much bolder, and he uses color as freely as he used it when working with chalk or charcoal. Pastel is indeed on the verge between drawing and painting, and Degas himself said that it allows him to become "a colorist with a line."

At the Ballet - circa 1880-1881 - Private collection - Drawing - pastel

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(Edgar Degas)

(Edgar Degas) (1834-1917), French painter, one of the most important and famous impressionists(see impressionism). In his work, propagandizing the rejection of academic salon art, Degas himself strove in his paintings for the maximum "naturalism". At the same time, his paintings have differences in style due to constant creative experiments. At the same time, based on an excellent school of drawing from traditional painting, Degas's work demonstrates the precision and realism that also distinguishes the artist's paintings from many impressionists.

The artist's father, Auguste de Gas, was the manager of the French branch of a bank founded in Italy by Edgar Degas' grandfather, Rene Hilaire de Gas (back in the days of flight from french revolution). The wealth of his father allowed Edgar to focus on education and creativity in his favorite business (he loved to draw from childhood). This focus on creativity shaped the young Degas as a perfectionist at work.

Towards the end of his life, Edgar Degas moves away from the Impressionists (even denying the very term "Impressionism"), distances himself from their society. A severe eye disease forced him to work, overcoming the difficulties of poor eyesight, which formed a special unique style of his late works. Last years Degas spent his life alone (perhaps because of his difficult nature), abandoning painting and stopping writing.

Paintings by Degas:

1870 - The Franco-Prussian War was approaching Paris. Together with Manet, Degas goes into the army. Degas volunteers for an infantry regiment. Soon a visual defect in the right eye (the onset of blindness) was discovered and Degas was transferred to the artillery, where he ended the war. 1871 - after the war, the artist visited London. 1872 - visits America and lived for several months in New Orleans, with his relatives (on the maternal side). 1873 - urgently returned to Paris, where his father died, leaving large debts. Keeping his family reputation, Degas spent his inheritance on payments, sold his house and the family collection of paintings by old masters. Left without funds, he is forced to engage in commercial creativity. 1874-1886 - Edgar Degas participates in seven exhibitions of the Impressionists. He became famous and respected in the Parisian art world. Sales agents agree to work with him, and Degas's paintings sell well at a high price. 1882 - the artist's eyesight begins to deteriorate sharply, and Degas begins experiments in the technique of drawing, and then moves on to sculpture. 1888 - Degas becomes a very accomplished commercial artist. Conducts effective strategy trades with a group of dedicated agents. And closes in a narrow circle of close friends. 1907 - Degas practically stops painting. His paintings are sold already during his lifetime and at fabulous prices.