Degas Paintings

Through Edgar Degas’s beloved paintings, drawings, and sculptures, Susan Goldman Rubin conveys the wonder and excitement of the ballet world. Degas is one of the most celebrated painters of the impressionist movement, and his ballerina paintings are among the most favorite of his fans. In his artwork, Degas captures every moment, from the relentless hours of practice to the glamour of appearing on stage, revealing a dancer’s journey from novice to prima ballerina. Observing young students, Degas drew their poses again and again, determined to achieve perfection. The book includes a brief biography of his entire life, endnotes, bibliography, where to see his paintings, and an index.

An introduction to the life and work of nineteenth-century French artist Edgar Degas, discussing his cultural and historical importance, and including a chronology and over one hundred color illustrations with explanatory captions.

French artist Edgar Degas was famous for his drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. Although a member of the Impressionists, with Monet, Pissaro and Renoir his work focused on indoor subjects, particularly his acutely observed pieces on ballerinas. His masterful studies of real life resonate still today and he remains one of the most popular painters in the world. This beautiful new book showcases all of his major works (including Ballet Rehearsal, The Star and The Ballet Class), with detailed captions, and a long essay on life, art and influences.

30 works -- among them "A Woman with Chrysanthemums," "Dancers Resting," "The Bellelli Family," "The Procession (At the Race Course)," "The Millinery Shop," and "Women Combing Their Hair."

Edgar Degas seems never to have reconciled himself to the label of "Impressionist," preferring to call himself a "Realist" or "Independent." Nevertheless, he was one of the group’s founders, an organizer of its exhibitions, and one of its most important core members. Like the Impressionists, he sought to capture fleeting moments in the flow of modern life, yet he showed little interest in painting plain air landscapes, favoring scenes in theaters and cafes illuminated by artificial light, which he used to clarify the contours of his figures, adhering to his Academic training. He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. He also was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterful in depicting movement, as can be seen in his interpretations of dancers and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

Carefully reproduced from a rare 1923 limited edition, most of these magnificent drawings are unavailable elsewhere in published form. Dancers, nudes, portraits, travel scenes, and more. 100 drawings, including 8 in full color.

A lavish new investigation into the Paris Opera’s influence on Edgar Degas's painting. From his debut in the 1860s up to his final works after 1900, the Paris Opera formed a focal point of Edgar Degas's paintings. He explored the theater's various spaces—auditorium and stage, private boxes, foyers, and dance studios—and painted those who frequented them: dancers, singers, orchestral musicians, audience members, and subscribers watching from the wings. This theater presented a microcosm of infinite possibilities, allowing him to experiment with multiple points of view, contrasting lighting, motion, and the precision of movement. This catalog, created in concert with an exhibition at the Muse´e d'Orsay in Paris, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, considers the Paris Opera’s influence on Degas as a whole, examining not only his passionate relationship with the house and his musical tastes, but also the infinite resources of the opera's marvelous toolbox. Filled with striking reproductions of Degas’s work and including insightful essays by leading curators and scholars, Degas at the Opera offers admission into the world of Degas and the Paris Opera of the nineteenth century.

Forty-one full-page, six half-page drawings depict dancers on stage, in the classroom, and at rehearsals. Charming, spirited views of dancers pirouetting, executing grand battements and ports de bras, practicing at the barre, and more.