Hotsed By ECN www.e-cinc.com
Tribute Piece: Style Of Edgar Degas
Location: Gary Lister Construction
1201 W. Commerce (East Side Of Building)
Listed Caption:
Edgar Degas
[French Realist/Impressionist Painter and Sculptor, 1834-1917]
Dancers were Degas favorite subject. Ballets were very popular in Paris and young girls dreamed of becoming famous ballerinas. But it was hard work and not very glamorous. The young girls wern't even called students. They were called rats. Degas understood how hard the girls worked. He spent hours watching them practice at the dance studio. Degas was fascinated by their gauzy costumes and the movement of their bodies as they twirled and leaped across the floor. He painted many of his ballerina scenes with pastels, a chalk-like crayon. With pastels, he could work more quickly than with oils. They didn't need time to dry, and the colors were very bright. He liked to capture the "impression of the movement", much like the newly popular photographs. Degas also showed the dancers resting. They waited on the sidelines, adjusted their costumes, yawned, and scratched their backs. This outraged the critics. They were used to seeing only "beautiful" portraits of famous ballerinas. His portrayals were disturbing, but he didn't care what critics said; he recorded the scenes as he saw them.
Maria Beck 2004
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