10 Remarkable Facts about Edgar Degas

Self-portrait. Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

10 Remarkable Facts about Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas was a great French Impressionist artist born in 1834. The artist made numerous remarkable paintings and drawings. He had more concern with live performance.

Dance was his main subject and covered approximately fifty percent (50%) of his entire work. Among many, Degas is identified as a ballerina painter. He loved attending ballet functions to record movements.

Furthermore, he also incorporated prints and bronze sculptures in his work. His work dominates several museums in the world. Numerous remarkable facts make Edgar an outstanding artist. Below are the top ten astonishing facts about Degas.

1. He  sold his house to inherit an art collection

Google Art Project. Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

People do many incredible things in life. But selling a house to pursue a career in life is rare. Despite being a descendant of a wealthy family, Degas began experiencing financial problems in 1874 when his father died

 He also realized his brother had huge debt collections, which he had to help settle. Thus, he decided to sell his house. This is a big sacrifice that one will have to make in life. His love for art was so great that he could not let anything stop him from pursuing his career. The incident changed his life’s course.

Selling artwork became his vital source of income. He struggled the following decade but achieved great productivity through forming an alliance allying with the Budding Impressionist movement.

2. Edgar Degas attended law school

Despite his passion for art, Degas’ father wanted him to pursue law. When Degas graduated from Lycée at 18, his father sent him to the University of Paris. Not interested in the subject, Degas put in very little effort.

He had a great passion for art; his room was his first studio. Later in 1955, he joined  École des Beaux-Arts where he learned to draw. Furthermore, Degas was initially interested in historical art but changed at age 30 to cover ‘real’ events in the later years.

He never wanted to be limited by past events only. He wanted to proceed with the changes the community was going through.

3.In his life,Edgar Degas was only able to exhibit one Sculpture (Taking Shape, Aged Fourteen)

This is one of the most striking facts. Degas was only able to exhibit one sculpture. Most of his work has gone on view after his death.

Approximately seventy (70) sculptures have been exhibited so far. Many people came to understand the significance and meaning of his work in the later years.

4. Only one of his Painting was bought by a museum when he was alive

Two pastels on paper, by Edgar Degas. Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

He only managed to sell one painting to a museum during his entire life. “A Cotton Office in New Orleans” was the only painting that made its way to a museum. It was one of the artist’s favorite works.

The painting portrays the bombing of a cotton business in a financial accident. This artwork was exhibited in 1876 in Paris, France. It was the second large display for the impressionists since their emergence. This was a great turn for the artist as he managed to sell many copies after the exhibition.

5. Edgar Degas focus on women and the human body structure made many consider him a sexist.

Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

During his era, portraying nudity was not a common topic for most artists. However, Degas did this in most of his paintings. For instance, “The Tub” portrayed the picture of a naked lady bathing.

The woman is not aware that she is being watched. This was uncommon among many during the 18^th century and was considered taboo.

What was he trying to teach society about? He got criticized by many pundits. He painted pictures of many ladies without clothes, and many started perceiving him as a sexist. This was against most societies’ cultural beliefs.

6. Edgar Degas was perfect in capturing moments

Degas is one of the most famous artists in capturing moments. Whenever he observed plays, he captured every form of movement and drew them.

This was a crucial skill to cover and elaborate perfect ballerina paintings and sculptures. He was a master at analyzing different angles and positions of the dancers.

Whenever ballet dancers performed for crowds, he was able to capture all the moments. Due to his great work, he was permitted to attend the Paris Opera House classes to capture the ballet dancers’ moments.

7. He was a patriot

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. Degas went to fight to defend Paris as a volunteer under the National Guard. Due to the war, his group broke. Even in the French artillery, Degas continued with his art.

He made many sketches of those who were with him in the military. In 1872, he went to New Orleans to visit his family. In 1973 while in this place, he made a great masterpiece that went viral across continents, “The Cotton Market, New Orleans.”

8. Unlike other artists of the 18^th century, Edgar degas made many nudes

Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

Portraying nudity was not common in France in the 18^th century among artists. However, for Degas, it was not a big deal. He made many nude paintings (most were for women). The works include “The Tub”, Woman in a Tub”, “After the Bath, Woman  Drying Herself”, “Kneeling Woman”, Young Spartans Exercising”, and “Male Nude.”

9. He never married

Degas put his prioritized his work over family. He believed that artists were meant to live lonely lives to avoid interference and dedicate more time to work. He spent his entire life without a family of his own.

10. Edgar Degas was diverse

Cotton Merchants. Photo by Edgar Degas-Wikimedia

Degas focused on different forms of art. He combined styles from various artists to come up with unique artwork. For instance, one of his greatest inspirations was Jean Auguste Dominique.

Dominique specialized in the making of clear and striking images. He also had several intriguing paintings. In the later years, Degas turned to photography and started employing similar techniques.

He admired the colorful composition created in Eugene Delacroix’s paintings. With a combination of colors, he was able to imitate.