Edgar Degas

Born in Paris, Degas entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1855 to work with Louis Lamothe, one of Ingres’ former pupils. He visited Italy the following year, resettled in Paris — where from 1865 until 1870 he exhibited at the Salon — and in 1872 went to New Orleans to live with relatives for several months. After his return to France he exhibited for eight years with the Impressionists. Degas’ varied subjects, motifs drawn largely from urban life, encompassed dancers, working girls, women bathing, and race horses, but also included occasional landscapes. The artist experimented throughout his life with a variety of media, including oil, pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, etching, lithography, monotypes, photography, and sculpture. His last public exhibition was held at Durand-Ruel’s in 1893. Degas made occasional trips to Italy and England, and in 1880 he visited Spain and Tangier. He died, solitary and almost blind, in Paris.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.