Impressionism--DEGAS--section+2


 * Lindsey**



Impressionism was one of the biggest art movements in history. It started in France in the later 19th century, going into the 20th century, it also began with paintings, then moved to music, and then to writings. The most important part of Impressionism was to try to accurately and objectively show visuals by using effects of light and color. The painters of the time painted mainly people, when they painted they tried to show what they saw in the picture, and made it look real. Some of the main Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, and Frédéric Bazille, who impacted each other, through their art works, and changed history. Edgar Degas was a painter who also painted using the style of Impressionism during the early 1870s.



Edgar Degas was born in July 19, 1834, Paris, France. Degas was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker. His main subjects in his paintings were humans—especially the female body. His works ranged from serious portraits of himself in younger days to the interest/paintings of laundresses, cabaret singers, and prostitutes of his Impressionist period. His main focus was ballet dancers. He became known as “painter of dancers,” Today it is a fact that Degas was the only Impressionist to truly bridge the gap between traditional academic art and the radical movements of the early 20th century. Both his design and technique became basic, which led to a new art of elaborate color and a new design, and in a long period of closely designed compositions. Today he is now counted among the most amazing artists of his generation; he also influenced Picasso, Henri Matisse, and many of others of the 20th century.



It is not said that Degas had any relationship with the ballerinas. There is no evidence that Degas had amorous liaison with any of the dancers (it would have been common for people/artists like him to have a marriage/ a love amongst the corps de ballet. After the stage of his dance paintings it was the raceway/horse races which drew most of his attention of his work to reveal that to this theme he made 45 paintings, 20 pastels, about 250 sketches and 17 sculptures. Racecourses were a relatively new phenomenon in France, being introduced there from England in the 19th century. The Long champ stadium opened in 1857 and it was this course which inspired Degas, and later many others. The exclusive Jockey Club was installed in 1833 and it attracted many of the upper class people who attended the Paris Opera.





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