Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas) was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draughtsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the dance, and over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement, as do his racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are considered to be among the finest in the history of art.
Early in his career, his ambition was to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art. In his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.
“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?”
“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people”
“C'est vrai. Voilá quelqu'un qui sent comme moi. (It is true. There is someone who feels as I do).”
“I want to be famous but unknown!”
“And even this heart of mine has something artificial. The dancers have sewn it into a bag of pink satin, pink satin slightly faded, like their dancing shoes.”
“Art is vice. You don't marry it legitimately, you rape it.”
“Art is vice. You don't wed it, you rape it.”
“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”