Edgar Degas
Degas changed the spelling of his own name. He was born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, into a Parisian banking family, and dropped the aristocratic particle to become simply Degas. His father wanted him to study law. He enrolled in law school, then quietly registered as a copyist at the Louvre instead.
Biography
More than half of his entire output depicts dancers. He became a fixture at the Paris Opera, watching from the wings and from boxes above the stage, sketching not the performance but the work behind it: the stretching, the waiting, the adjusting of shoes, the corrections from the ballet master. The backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.
In 1881[8], he exhibited Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a two-thirds life-size wax figure of Marie van Goethem, a real student at the Opera ballet school. She wore a real tutu, real ballet slippers, and a wig of human hair, all coated in wax. Critics called it repulsive. One described the girl as having a face marked by the hateful promise of every vice. Wax was a material for anatomical specimens, not art. It was the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. After his death, 150 more wax figures were found in his studio, many falling apart.
His eyesight began failing during the Franco-Prussian War. By his forties he had lost central vision. By fifty-seven he could not read. The deterioration drove him from fine brushwork to bolder strokes, then to pastels, then to sculpture he could work by touch. He avoided daylight and painted under controlled artificial light. Collectors joked they should chain their Degas paintings to the wall, because he would try to take them back to rework them. He compulsively revised everything.
He disliked being called an Impressionist. He preferred Realist or Independent. He never painted outdoors, which was supposedly the whole point of the movement. Despite this, he co-founded the group, organised their exhibitions, and showed in all eight. He said: there is love and there is art and we only have one heart. He never married.
Timeline
- 1834Born in Paris to a wealthy banking family. His mother was from a Creole family in New Orleans.
- 1856At 22, travelled to Italy for three years, drawing copies of Renaissance masters in Rome, Florence, and Naples.
- 1872At 38, travelled to New Orleans and painted A Cotton Office in New Orleans, the first Impressionist work bought by a museum.
- 1874At 40, exhibited ten paintings at the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris, including works depicting laundresses and ballet dancers.
- 1881At 47, exhibited The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, his only sculpture shown in his lifetime, at the sixth Impressionist exhibition.
- 1917Died aged 83 in Paris, nearly blind. Over 150 wax sculptures were discovered in his studio after his death.
Notable Works
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Where to See Edgar Degas
15 museums worldwide.
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509 worksNational Gallery of Art
Washington D.C., United States
Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 11:00–18:00 · Free
With 330 Degas works, the National Gallery of Art in Washington rivals the Musee d'Orsay on paper. The Havemeyer and Mellon gifts brought in pastels, monotypes and bronzes, so the collection covers ballet rehearsals, racecourse studies and the late bathers in roughly equal measure.
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93 worksMetropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
Sun–Tue, Thu 10:00–17:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00; closed Wed · Adults $30, students $17 (pay-what-you-wish for NY residents)
The Met's 93 Degas works came largely through the Havemeyer bequest of 1929, which Mary Cassatt helped shape. The group is strongest on pastels of dancers and women bathing, the subjects Degas returned to through the 1880s and 1890s as his eyesight declined.
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62 worksMusée d'Orsay
Paris, France
Tue–Sun 09:30–18:00 (Thu until 21:45); closed Mon · €16 adults
The Musée d'Orsay's 62 Degas works trace directly to the 1894 Caillebotte bequest and later Havemeyer gifts. L'Absinthe (1875), The Bellelli Family (1858), The Ballet Class (1871), and the pastel The Tub (1886) together cover domestic portraiture, ballet studies, and his late bathing nudes.
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18 worksMuseum of Fine Arts Boston
Boston, United States
Sun-Mon 10:00-17:00, Tue closed, Wed 10:00-17:00, Thu-Fri 10:00-22:00, Sat 10:00-17:00
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See all Edgar Degas prints →Frequently Asked Questions
Did edgar degas go blind?
As Edgar Degas grew older, his eyesight began to fail. He told the dealer Vollard that, with his eyesight going, he now had to take up blind men’s work.Did edgar degas marry?
The biography states that Edgar Degas never married.Edgar degas art movement?
Although Edgar Degas detested painting outdoors, he was considered a charter member of the Impressionist group. This was due to friendship, his dedication to contemporary subject matter, and his opposition to official academic painting.How did edgar degas die?
Edgar Degas died in 1917[8] at the age of 83.How did edgar degas paint?
Edgar Degas worked hard to make the dancers in his paintings appear spontaneous and natural. His compositions were influenced by photography and Japonisme.Was edgar degas an impressionist?
Although Edgar Degas was associated with the Impressionists, his approach differed, and he rejected the label. Despite this, he helped organise their independent exhibitions from 1874[8] to 1886 and participated in all but one of them.Was edgar degas married?
The biography states that Edgar Degas never married.What is edgar degas best known for?
More than half of Edgar Degas's paintings depict young ballerinas who performed at the Paris Opera. He painted the dancers in intimate, behind-the-scenes situations, but viewed them with a cool detachment.When did edgar degas start painting?
In 1855[8], Edgar Degas began his training as an artist.Who was edgar degas inspired by?
Edgar Degas studied with Louis Lamothe, a former student of Ingres. Lamothe taught him the importance of Ingres's teachings.Why did edgar degas paint dancers?
More than half of Edgar Degas's artistic output depicts dancers. He was a regular at the Paris Opera, observing from the wings and boxes, and sketching the work behind the performance, such as stretching, waiting, adjusting shoes, and corrections from the ballet master, as the backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.Is edgar degas french?
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas was born in Paris.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Edgar Degas.
- [1] museum Brooklyn Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Toledo Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Department of Prints and Drawings of the Louvre Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Roma Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Shelburne Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] wikidata Wikidata: Q46373 Used for: identifiers.
- [8] wikipedia Wikipedia: Edgar Degas Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [9] book Masterpieces of western art : a history of art in 900 individual studies from the Gothic to the present day Used for: biography.
- [10] book Post-impressionism : cross-currents in European painting Used for: biography.
- [11] book Post-impressionism : cross-currents in European painting Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-15. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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