Degas - Self Portrait (1858)

Edgar Degas was a French artist who was born in 1834.

Racehorse

He painted horses,

La-La at Le Cirque Fernando, Paris, 1879

circus performers,

and Parisian laundresses.

But he became most well known

for his paintings of ballerinas.  

Degas was an abonne, a subscriber, to the Paris Opera Ballet.  He attended the ballet several times a week, and he painted what he saw.  Sometimes he painted a performance.

The Dance Class (1873-76)

Sometimes he painted a dance class.

Sometimes he painted a rehearsal.

The Dancing Examination (1874)

Sometimes he painted the "petit rats", or first-year students.  

L'Etoile (The Star) 1876-77.

Sometimes he painted the stars of the ballet.

L'Orchestre de l'Opera (1869)

Sometimes he painted the orchestra.

When he became older, and his eyesight began to fail, Degas turned to sculpture.  He sculpted "The Little Dancer - Fourteen Years Old" between 1879 - 1881. 

"The Little Dancer" was probably Degas's first 3-dimensional work.

The Paris Opera House is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.  It contains many levels, some of them underground. The underground levels contain articles from various operas.  Their gruesome effect sparked the idea behind Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera".

The Degas House

In 1872, Degas decided to visit his mother's family in New Orleans in the United States.

A Cotton Office in New Orleans (1873)

He stayed there for 5 months, and created 22 paintings, including this painting of the family's cotton office.

Portrait of Mme. Rene Degas, nee Estelle Musson 1872 - 1873

He also painted his cousin (and sister-in-law) Estelle, who was blind.  Degas, whose own eyesight was failing, admired the way Estelle coped with her handicap.

The Degas House

The Degas House is now a bed and breakfast/museum in New Orleans.

Edgar Degas died in 1917.