Dimensions
155 x 165 x 11mm
Hilaire-Romaine Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917), a student of the classicist Dominique-Augste Ingres, entered the precarious world of painting with the support of a well-to-do family who encouraged his artistic career. A dedicated Realist, Degas painted the world around him: modern life in Paris - a backstage world of ballet dancers, singers in the cafe concerts, brothels, horse racing events, shopgirls and laundresses - as experienced by someone of his class. He depicted his subjects with a curious detachment, using his art to revel the "modern beauty", and ruthlessly repeated the same themes in his pursuit of translating sight into intense works of art.