The Artist

Edgar Degas

French · 1834 - 1917 · Impressionism

Degas is the Impressionist of bodies in motion — dancers warming up backstage, women bathing, jockeys before the race. He worked in pastel as readily as oil and chose pose and composition with a photographer's eye for the unposed moment. The Dance Class, Blue Dancers, and L'Absinthe show his range: lit interiors, off-balance crops, and an unflinching attention to working life in 19th-century Paris. His prints carry beautifully at scale, where the chalk dust and pastel strokes resolve into restless, breathing figures.