Limited edition graphic print 50x70 cm. Embossed stamp DONALD ART CO. 1962. Loose sheet. FABRIANO Cotton 300 GR paper. License: Museo d'Orsay
About the artist:
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was a French painter who was considered an Impressionist, though he never thought of himself as one, despite being one of the main initiators of Impressionist exhibitions. He stood apart from this movement and was reluctant to even accept the term "Impressionism."
Like his colleague Édouard Manet, Degas was resistant to associating with the other members of the group, as his refined drawing style set him apart. He said that painting requires a little mystery, ambiguity, and fantasy. When you express your meaning too clearly, you end up boring people.
Born on July 19, 1834, in Paris, he studied under Louis Lamothe, a former pupil of the Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres at the Academy of Fine Arts.
His early works, imbued with academic techniques, often featured motifs derived from antiquity. After the Franco-Prussian War, Edgar Degas traveled to the United States, where in 1875 he painted his famous work A Cotton Office in New Orleans. In the late 1870s, Degas experienced a period of profound creativity and, despite his deteriorating eyesight, created major works in sculpture, printmaking, and painting.
For the remainder of his career, he increasingly used pastels, which allowed him to work faster and with greater dexterity. Degas died on September 27, 1917, in Paris, France. Today, his works are part of the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery in London.
