How Did Edgar Degas Portray The Dancers

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Degas and the Dancers Hilaire Germain Edgar de Gas was born on July 19th of 1834 in Paris France, the eldest of five children (Spence). His mother was American and his father was a wealthy French banker with a great appreciation for the arts (Spence). He became known as just Edgar de Gas and was famous for his paintings of racehorses and Dancers (Spence). At the age of eleven, Edgar changed the spelling of his name to Degas (edgar-degas.org). Though he showed his work with the Impressionist painters at the Impressionist galleries, Degas preferred not to be referred to as an impressionist but saw himself as a realist often mocking the Impressionist painters for setting up their canvases outdoors (Spence). Since I was first introduced to Edgar Degas’ work when I was in high school, I have had a fascination with his beautiful portrayals of graceful dancers. Edgar portrayed women beautifully and naturally in their own environment…show more content…
He did begin his career with paintings that portrayed history such as The Sufferings of the City of New Orleans in 1865 (Spence). In his thirties however, he changed course and became a contemporary painter painting dancers, fully capturing their grace and movement (edgar-degas.org). Degas frequented le tout Paris and the opera house which provided the inspiration for his beautiful paintings of dancers which can often be seen in candid poses as if Degas is secretly watching through a window his subjects unaware of his presence (Richardson). When Degas began favoring the ballet as a subject, there were no star dancers and certainly none of them were strikingly beautiful; this is why he usually chose to show them in studios rehearsing with the focus on the instructor (Richardson). Degas even detested the choreography of the time and often put dancers in poses of his own choosing
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