The Artist
The Culture Even though Edgar Degas was well educated at the art academy and knew all the rules involved with painting, his work was at odds with the academic standards when he pushed figures to the edges of a painting or part way out of it. In an academic work, the figures would be placed well within the edges of the picture. By doing this, the artist showed a complete picture or idea. Degas’ figures, leaning out of the edges, suggest that the world goes on beyond this single idea or format. It suggests a world that the artist has only hinted at. The Chinese created similar worlds in their hand held scroll paintings. A long strip of silk or paper was rolled into a scroll and a continuous landscape was painted onto the scroll. The viewer only saw a piece at a time as he unrolled one end while rolling the other up. One view led into the next, suggesting a world beyond the one we see. Degas would not have been aware of Chinese scrolls. It was the new invention of photography that influenced his technique. He saw the way snapshots caught a moment with people or animals going into and out of the picture. The r esult of Degas’ work and of the Chinese scroll was that art captured a segment of time and space while suggesting that there was more to be seen.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) French Impressionist Painter
Early in his career, Edgar Degas wanted to be a history painter. He was well trained within the traditional Academy style. In his 30’s he changed course. He was part of the Impressionist movement and was influenced greatly by their ideas; however, he did not want to be called an Impressionist. He preferred to think of himself as a realistic painter. His subject matter became more modern as he sought out subjects in ballet studios, at the horse track, and in workplaces like the hat shop in the picture, At the Milliners . He was greatly influenced by the new invention of photography and was noted for composing his paintings like a snapshot. He cut off figures, like the figure on the right in the work you just looked at, painting them at the edge of the canvas or paper. Degas worked in pastels, perhaps more often than any other Impressionist painter, except for Cassatt, who greatly admired the work of Degas. Pastels could be applied to the paper quickly and could be carried on location easily.
Make a chart of neutral colors to use for future reference. Find at least ten combinations and variations of neutral colors using all the colors in your pastel set. Label each combination with the hues that were used in the mixture. When finished, apply fixative (hairspray) to the chart. Keep the chart for future reference. The Challenge
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