Biography of Edgar Degas, Influential French Impressionist

The Bellelli Family and History Painting

Degas initially saw himself as a ‛history painter,’ an artist who depicted scenes from history in a dramatic but traditional manner, and his initial studies and training reflected these classic techniques and subjects. However, during his time in Italy, Degas began to pursue realism, an attempt to depict real life as it was, and his portrait of The Bellelli Family is a remarkably accomplished and complex early work that marked Degas as a young master.

The portrait was innovative without being disruptive. At first glance, it appears to be a conventional portrait in a more or less conventional style, but several aspects of the painting’s composition demonstrate the deep thought and subtlety Degas brought to it. The fact that the patriarch of the family, his uncle-in-law, is seated with his back to the viewer while his wife stands confidently far away from him is unusual for a family portrait of the time while implying much about their relationship and the husband’s status in the household. Likewise, the position and posture of the two daughters — one more serious and adult, one a more playful "link" between her two distant parents — says much about their relationship to each other and their parents.

Degas attained the complex psychology of the painting in part by sketching each person separately, then compositing them into a pose they never actually assembled for. The painting, begun in 1858, was not completed until 1867.

War and New Orleans

In 1870, war broke out between France and Prussia, and Degas enlisted in the French National Guard, service which interrupted his painting. He was also informed by army doctors that his eyesight was poor, something which worried Degas for the rest of his life.

After the war, Degas moved to New Orleans for a time. While living there he painted one of his most famous works, A Cotton Office in New Orleans. Once again, Degas sketched people (including his brother, shown reading a newspaper, and his father-in-law, in the forefront) individually and then composed the painting as he saw fit. His dedication to realism produces a “snapshot” effect despite the care that went into planning the painting, and despite the chaotic, almost random moment depicted (an approach that closely linked Degas to the burgeoning Impressionistic movement) he manages to link everything together via color: The swath of white in the middle of the image draws the eye from left to right, uniting all the figures in the space.

The Inspiration of Debt

Degas’ father passed away in 1874; his death revealed that Degas’ brother had amassed huge debt. Degas sold his personal art collection to satisfy the debts and embarked on a more business-oriented period, painting subjects he knew would sell. Despite the economic motivations, Degas created most of his most famous works during this period, most notably his many paintings depicting ballerinas (though this was a subject he’d worked on previously, the dancers were popular and sold well for him).

One example is The Dance Class, finished in 1876 (sometimes also called The Ballet Class). Degas’ dedication to realism and the impressionistic virtue of capturing the moment is underscored by his typical decision to depict a rehearsal instead of a performance; he liked to show dancers as workers plying a profession as opposed to ethereal figures moving gracefully through space. His mastery of draftsmanship allowed him to imply movement effortlessly — the dancers stretch and slump with exhaustion, the teacher can almost be seen to pound his baton on the floor, counting the rhythm.

Impressionist or Realist?

Degas is usually credited as one of the founders of the impressionistic movement, which eschewed the formality of the past and pursued a goal of capturing a moment in time just as the artist perceived it. This emphasized capturing light in its natural state as well as human figures in relaxed, casual stances — not posed, but observed. Degas himself rejected this label and considered his work to be “realist” instead. Degas objected to the supposedly “spontaneous” nature of impressionism that sought to capture moments that struck the artist in real-time, complaining that “no art was ever less spontaneous than mine.”

Despite his protestations, realism was part of the impressionist goal, and his influence was profound. His decision to depict people as if they were unaware of being painted, his choice of backstage and other usually private settings, and his unusual and often unsettling angles captured details that in the past would have been ignored or transformed — the floorboards in the dance class, sprayed with water to improve traction, the expression of mild interest on his father-in-law’s face in the cotton office, the way one Bellelli daughter seems almost insolent as she refuses to pose with her family.

The Art of Movement

Degas is also celebrated for his skill in depicting movement in a painting. This is one reason his paintings of dancers are so popular and prized—and also why he was a celebrated sculptor as well as a painter. His famous sculpture, The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, was controversial in its time for both the extreme realism he employed in capturing ballet student Marie van Goethem’s form and features, as well as its composition — wax over a skeleton made of paintbrushes, including real clothes. The statue also conveys a nervous posture, a combination of awkward teen fidgeting and implied motion that echoes the dancers in his paintings. The sculpture was later cast in bronze.

Death and Legacy

Degas had anti-Semitic leanings throughout his life, but the Dreyfus Affair, which involved the false conviction of a French army officer of Jewish descent for treason, brought those leanings to the fore. Degas was a difficult man to like and had a reputation for rudeness and cruelty that saw him shed friends and acquaintances throughout his life. As his eyesight failed, Degas stopped working in 1912 and spent the last few years of his life alone in Paris.

Degas’ artistic evolution over the course of his lifetime was startling. Comparing The Bellelli Family to later works, one can clearly see how he moved away from formality into realism, from carefully structuring his compositions to capturing moments. His classical skills combined with his modern sensibility makes him still profoundly influential today.

Sources

• Armstrong, Carol. Odd Man out: Readings of the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas. Getty Publications, 2003.
• Schenkel, Ruth. “Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Painting and Drawing | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm.
• Smith, Ryan P. “One Hundred Years Later, the Tense Realism of Edgar Degas Still Captivates.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 29 Sept. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/100-years-later-tense-realism-edgar-degas-still-captivates-180965050/.
• Gelt, Jessica. “Degas Exhibited Only One Sculpture in His Lifetime; Now 70 Have Gone on View.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2017, www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-degas-norton-simon-20171203-htmlstory.html.