A beautifully illustrated biography to celebrate the painter's 190th birthday. Even during his lifetime, Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a legend. Respected and admired by his fellow artists--Pissarro called him "the greatest artist of the age"--his depictions of dancers were among the most popular subjects of his time. To this day, he is connected above all as a painter and illustrator with subjects relating to this theme. However, in addition to his graceful ballet scenes, Degas also created a wide-ranging artistic oeuvre that combined tradition and modernism and reflected his interest in experimenting with unusual techniques.
Edgar Degas was one of the most influential and important artists of the twentieth century. His works are characterized by the unintentional and spontaneous: the moment before the dance performance or the horse race; fragmented details of pictures; and portraits with unusual perspectives. He rang in the modern age with his stylistic devices for dynamic presentation, pale-colored lightness, and shimmering hatching. Knowledgeably and attractively, the latest offering in the Great Masters of Art series presents the wealth of Degas's artistic creations across more than half a century. Accompanied by more than fifty color images, the volume explores his sharp, analytical gaze at his surroundings, his enormous influence on the generations of artists who followed him, and his demanding personality, lacking in vanity yet at the same time aloof.