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Edgar Degas Facts & Worksheets

Edgar Degas was a 19th-century French Impressionist artist. He is famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings as well as his bronze sculptures.

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Edgar Degas was a 19th-century French Impressionist artist. He is famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings as well as his bronze sculptures. His work is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. He helped shape the fine art landscape for years to come.

See the fact file below for more information on the Edgar Degas or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Edgar Degas worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Edgar Degas was born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas on the 19th of July, 1834, in Paris, France.
  • Degas was the eldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas, an American from New Orleans, and Augustin De Gas, a banker.
  • Their family was a member of the middle class with nobler pretensions. For several years, the Degas family spelled their name “de Gas”; the preposition “de” implying a land-owning aristocratic background which they did not actually have.
  • When he was 11 years old, Degas (as a young man he left the more pretentious spelling of the family name) started his schooling with enrollment in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, graduating in 1853 with a baccalauréat in literature.
  • Edgar began to paint early in his life and seriously wanted to become an artist, a talent encouraged by his father, who was a knowledgeable art lover.
  • At age 18 he had turned a room in his home into an artist’s studio and had begun making copies in the Louvre Museum (during the 19th century, aspiring artists developed their technique by trying to replicate the works of the masters).
  • His father expected him to become a lawyer, as he knew that being an artist was a tough way to make a living.
  • Thus, Edgar went to law school in November 1853 but applied little effort to his studies.
  • In April 1855, Edgar was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts (formerly the Académie des Beaux-Arts) in Paris. However, after just one year of study, Degas left school to spend three years traveling, painting, and studying in Italy.
  • Edgar painted painstaking copies of the works of the great Italian Renaissance painters Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.
  • While staying with his aunt, he painted a famous picture of their family called The Bellelli Family.

RETURN TO PARIS

  • In 1859, upon returning to Paris, Edgar wanted to become a famous artist.
  • Edgar initially painted traditional subjects including portraits and grand historical scenes like “The Daughter of Jephtha,” “Semiramis Building Babylon” and “Scene of War in the Middle Ages.”
  • He submitted his works to the Salon, a group of French artists and teachers who presided over public exhibitions.
  • In order to be considered a major artist, your paintings had to be accepted by the Salon, but they received Edgar’s paintings with measured indifference.
  • Edgar wanted to experiment and try new techniques of painting. He wasn’t impressed by painting the same old thing as the Salon wanted.
  • He started meeting with different artists including Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, and Alfred Sisley, who thought the same way.
  • They aspired to paint ordinary scenes and explore light and color.
  • This new group soon became known as the Impressionists.

IMPRESSIONISTS

  • The group chose to part ways with the Salon and have their own art show.
  • On April 15, 1874, they held the first Impressionist exhibition.
  • Edgar exhibited the paintings of modern women — milliners, laundresses, and ballet dancers — painted from radical perspectives.
  • Between 1874 and 1886, the group staged eight such Impressionist exhibitions, and Degas exhibited at all of them.
  • The most famous paintings of Edgar during these times include “The Dancing Class” (1871), “The Dance Class” (1874), “Woman Ironing” (1873), and “Dancers Practicing at the Bar” (1877).
  • In 1880, he also sculpted The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, his only showing of sculpture during his life. An almost life-size wax figure with real hair and dressed in a cloth tutu, it provoked a strong reaction from critics, some called it brilliant, others condemned him as cruel for having made it.

DEGAS STYLE

  • The Impressionist group disbanded in 1886.
  • Edgar deeply disliked being associated with the term “Impressionist” and rather called himself a “realist.”
  • He desired to paint scenes of real-life and to try to capture a moment, almost like a camera.
  • Like usual Impressionists, Degas wanted to experiment with light, angles, and focus.
  • Seldom subjects would have their backs to the viewer or be cut off by the side of the canvas. He would paint subjects off center and have them making ordinary things, like scratching their backs or even ironing clothes.
  • Like usual Impressionists, Degas wanted to experiment with light, angles, and focus.
  • He differed from many Impressionists in a way that he did not paint outdoors or study the effects of light on landscapes.

BALLET DANCERS

  • One of Edgar’s favorite subjects was the ballet dancer. During his career, he produced more than a thousand pictures of dancers.
  • He loved to paint the dancers rehearsing or backstage before a show, capturing not just their energy and grace, but also their hard work and effort.

DEATH AND LEGACY

  • As time passed, Degas became isolated.
  • He created sclptures up until 1910 and probably stopped working in 1912.
  • Edgar never married and was almost blind at the end of his life.
  • He died on September 27, 1917, in Paris.
  • Most people remember Degas as the painter of ballerinas. Art historians today consider him one of the greatest Impressionist painters.
  • His portraits, which are displayed in major museums throughout the world, are well-known for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

Edgar Degas Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Edgar Degas across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Edgar Degas worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Edgar Degas who was a 19th-century French Impressionist artist. He is famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings as well as his bronze sculptures. His work is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. He helped shape the fine art landscape for years to come.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Edgar Degas Facts
  • Quick Facts
  • Degas Biography
  • Key Words
  • Significant Dates
  • Fast Trivia
  • I’m a Realist
  • Degas Exhibit
  • Painting Is Important
  • Edgar Says…
  • What’s Your Subject?

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Use With Any Curriculum

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