French artist
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas [Degas]
was born,
July 19, 1834
in Paris, France
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Famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings of dancers, Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings.
Although Degas is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist, and did not paint outdoors as many Impressionists did.
“You know what I think of people who work out in the open. If I were the government I would have a special brigade of gendarmes to keep an eye on artists who paint landscapes from nature. Oh, I don’t mean to kill anyone; just a little dose of bird-shot now and then as a warning.”
Degas was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his rendition of dancers and bathing female nudes. In addition to ballet dancers and bathing women, Degas painted race horses and racing jockeys, as well as portraits. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.
As a child, Edgar had a deep passion for music but was also skilled in painting and drawing. He had a rare opportunity to copy or replicate art techniques by various artists whose works were featured at the Louvre. With this opportunity, he was able to create exceptional copies of Rembrandt paintings while studying the styles of Johannes Vermeer and Eugene Delacroix, among other contemporary painters. While in Italy, Degas decided to copy some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio who were considered as some of the artist’s inspirations. The masterpiece of these artists became the source of inspiration to the young artist.
Today Degas’s paintings, pastels, drawings, and sculptures are on prominent display in many museums, and have been the subject of many museum exhibitions and retrospectives [rightfully so!].
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So here’s a glimpse of this master’s work & words
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“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.“
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“No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.“
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“Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.“
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“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”
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“I want to be famous but unknown!”
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“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people”
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“Art is vice. You don’t wed it, you rape it.”
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“So that’s the telephone? They ring, and you run.”
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“My art, what do you want to say about it? Do you think you can explain the merits of a picture to those who do not see them? . . . I can find the best and clearest words to explain my meaning, and I have spoken to the most intelligent people about art, and they have not understood; but among people who understand, words are not necessary, you say humph, he, ha and everything has been said.”
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“Muses work all day long and then at night get together and dance…”
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“C’est vrai. Voilá quelqu’un qui sent comme moi. (It is true. There is someone who feels as I do).”
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“Art critic! Is that a profession? When I think we are stupid enough, we painters, to solicit those people’s compliments and to put ourselves into their hands! What shame! Should we even accept that they talk about our work?”
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“We were created to look at one another, weren’t we”
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“Success! Success! The enemy of progress!”
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“Everybody has talent at twenty-five. The difficult thing is to have it at fifty.”
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“The creation of a painting takes as much trickery and premeditation as the commitment of a crime.”
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“I would rather do nothing than do a rough sketch without having looked at anything. My memories will do better.”
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“Rien en art ne doit ressembler à un accident, même le mouvement.”
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Drawings
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Self Portraits
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Sculptures
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Photos
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Accompanied by…
Léo Delibes [1836-1891]
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Lakmé – Flower duet
Anna Netrebko & Elina Garanca
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [1840-1893]
Swan Lake
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Rudolf Nureyev & Margot Fonteyn
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For more information on Degas:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dgsp/hd_dgsp.htm
https://www.wikiart.org/en/edgar-degas
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/hilaire-germain-edgar-degas
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1219.html
https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1613
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edgar-degas-988
Marina Kanavaki 
Better he third time!
Love his ballerinas.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
😉 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
xoxoxo No ballerina emoji??
🩰😉😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
Okay… slippers, but where’s the entire ballerina? These emo guys need to pull up their socks.
I can’t even find a sock emoji! 🩰😉😘xoxoxo🩰😉😘xoxoxo🩰😉😘xoxoxo🩰😉😘xoxoxo🧽🧽🧽🧽🧽🧽
A ha ha ha haaaaaaa…………
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I’m not supposed to be blogging. I’ve got a deadline to meet.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
sending hugs and kisses to accompany you while you work! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
…just her Pointe!
Yeah…. xoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo
Each of these paintings is fascinating in its own right, including some that have a touch of the disturbing. I love Degas’s quotes about art, particularly this one, which holds true for writing as well: “Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.“
That applies to all arts, but we tend to forget that we’re constantly learning and never really ‘know how’. Here’s a great master painter’s view about it: http://hokusai.us.com/quotes_en
Thank you for passing along the Hokusai quote, Marina. One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my first creative writing professor was that learning the craft of fiction is a years-long process.
Honestly, when I read this quote I thought to myself, okay… and I considered myself an artist… right! Show me a hole I can go dive in! 🤣😂🤣😂 Still, there is time …what was it, at the 100s? 😉
Nope, 40s.
🤣😂🤣😂
Well, well, that was neat… browsing the works of Degas while listening to Iron Maiden!
That’s something you don’t do every day!
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☠️💀🎼🎨☠️💀🎼🎨☠️💀🎼🎨☠️💀🎼🎨
What a combination!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
No, you don’t but I’m thinking that he might appreciate them if he was around today! 😉🖌🎨🎸
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xoxoxoxoxo
mouah!!!!! xoxoxoxo
OMG!
I think I found the spirit of Hera on the sidewalk!!!!! ???????
You did!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
WOOF!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reblogged this on Momentary Lapse Of Sanity.
Thank you for rebloging this!
I watched one of those highbrow videos about Degas and if I remember right it showed real photos of the dancers he so loved. It was interesting to compare the photographic ‘reality’ to his wonderful interpretations. Our Library is still a risky place, I think, but if I can get it I’ll post it sometime.🤓
It would be very interesting to watch! 🙂 🙂
I’m fairly sure this is it. Maybe check your Athens library down the road…
https://www.worldcat.org/title/cultural-history-of-the-western-world/oclc/123492241
Our library keeps tracks of what we borrow (if we want it to). 😁😄
Super famous and super amazing too!!! It’s a shame that many great pieces of music have been used in ads. It usually makes people take it for granted or even hate it! 😉 His family name was De Gas but he changed it to Degas for a less grandiose sound to it!
Most Americans who have heard of Degas act as if there’s an acute accent over the e and pronounce his name in a way that English might spell as Day-gah. Your spelling as De Gas shows that the first part of the name is the common French word de that means ‘of’ or ‘from’.
The duet from Lakmé is super famous. Even many people who don’t know opera have heard it, perhaps in a television commercial.
Amazing artist ! Thanks for sharing
He is… and I’m so glad you took that journey with me! Thank you! 😊
Beautiful painter… pastels… everything.
I know his art from his ballerinas. I have a framed print of Ballettschule. It is at least 50 years old.
It is darker than the one you show here, so it has aged, or the print techniques at the time were not what they are today.
The music is fab!
For some reason, you made me think of a book someone gave me ….. YEARS ago. It’s on Watteau.
His chalk drawings are amazing…anyway that’s another artist. However, now that I’ve dug up the book, I’m going to have a browse through with a coffee!
Great post, Marina!! Loving this series!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooooooooxoxoxoxoxo
Oh, Watteau…. his tribute is a long way. October 10 is his birthday so, it’ll have to wait a bit! 😉 They are amazing!
Colors also change from site to site! One more reason why it’s best seeing a painting live.
I’m so happy you’re enjoying these!
Sending many many hugs and xoxoxoxoxo
oh and
Happy Hump Day! 😉
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
So, it’s Camel Day! Marina, since this virus hit I am confused what day it is. At least I have a sense of what month!
I can wait for the Watteau tribute! I’ll look on line and see what pics of his are available. Perhaps there are a couple in the book that I could send you, that are not online?
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IKR!!!!!
I’ve also got a book on Watteau, so I’ll check it too [Paul Hamlyn publication]
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Mine is © Henri Scrépel, but on the cover is the name René Huyghe, who is the writer.
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I’ll look that up! 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
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Marina,
This is a great post !
It’s hard to choose the best paintings… all of them are amazing!
Degas was really a great artist!
It really is hard. Once I start picking, I see more… 😉 Thank you, my friend!
Yes, I see.
You’re welcome. 😀
🙂
One of my absolute favorites. What a remarkable curator you are. Thank you. I remember an old quote from Richard Pryor: “Have you ever known a 10-year-old who said, ‘when I grow up I wanna be a critic?’“
Yes, who doesn’t!!!!!!! The telephone one was funny too and the bird droppings for the outdoor painting artists!!!!! 😉🤣😂 Thank you for the compliment. It’s a joy to me diving in those great artists paintings…
He sure was amazing, Marina. Thank you for sharing his wonderful artwork. Sometimes, it’s hard to fathom how some can be so skilled and talented. Enjoy your day, dear friend. xoxo
It is, isn’t it? So happy you enjoyed this, my dear Lauren! 🤗😘😘😘
What a wonderful artist he was and he obviously had a great love for the ballet. Thanks for posting so many of his paintings. My favourite is “Musicians at the ballet.” Such a different perspective. ❤
Oh, I agree with you, also Dancers in blue, combing hair and portrait of Ellen Andrée … ❤🤗
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I love Degas. Thank you.
Thank YOU!!!! 🙏😊
I love these posts, Marina!
Thank you, my dearest Rebecca. Means so much coming from you! 🤗😊🤗😊