Edgar Degas

My favourite painter of all time is (Hilaire Germain) Edgar Degas, a French painter and

sculptor, whose innovative composition, skilful drawing, and perceptive analysis of movement made him one of the masters of modern art in the late 19th century.

He was born into a well-to-do banking family on July 19, 1834, in Paris.

Degas is usually classed with the impressionists, and he exhibited with them in seven of the eight impressionist exhibitions. However, his training in classical drafting and his dislike of painting directly from nature produced a style that represented a related alternative to impressionism. His pastels are usually simple compositions containing only a few figures. He was obliged to depend on vibrant colours and meaningful gestures rather than on precise lines and careful detailing, but, in spite of such limitations, these works are eloquent and expressive and have a simple grandeur unsurpassed by any of his other works.

Degas was not well known to the public, and his true artistic stature did not become evident until after his death. He died in Paris on September 27, 1917.