edgar degas

Degas, pronounced duh GAH, Edgar (1834-1917), was a French impressionist painter. Like the other impressionists, he wanted to portray situations from modern life. However, he did not share his fellow impressionists' concentration on light and color. Degas emphasized composition, drawing, and form more than did the other members of the movement. See IMPRESSIONISM. Degas is best known for his paintings of people in both public and unguarded private moments. He showed his figures in awkward …

…he tilted his perspective to emphasize a sudden or informal movement by a figure. He even cut off parts of the subjects at the edge of the picture. In the 1880's, Degas started to concentrate on intimate scenes, such as women bathing, shopping, or drying or combing their hair. Degas painted many pictures in oil, but he also excelled in pastel. In addition, Degas was a fine sculptor and made many clay or wax figurines.