Degas

Edgar Deps was the most complex of all nineteenth century painters. A very private man who scorned publicity, Degas remains one of the least understood of his generation. Although he is known for his depiction of modern subjects—racecourse scenes, cafe-concerts, ballet dancers, bathers—his was a classical art based upon drawing and a long study of the masters; and although he exhibited with the Impressionists, who were primarily landscape painters, he sought to salvage the figure as the central subject of painting. Now, this new biographical and critical study by the authors of the celebrated books Monet and The Last Flowers of Monet brings to light fresh insights on the art, working methods, and relentless eye of Degas. Degas is looked at here not only as a painter, but as a draughtsman as well. His drawings and pastels are just as important as his paintings: the artist himself valued his works on paper as much as his canvases. For this ground-breaking volume, Robert Gordon has ferreted out from public and private collections the world over a multitude of pastels and drawings, as well as paintings. monotypes and sculptures—the book contains 324 illustrations in all, treasured favourites as well as more than 60 previously unpublished images. He has brought together related works that have long been scattered and rarely, if ever, seen together since they left the artist's studio. Arranged largely by theme, they come together to show Degas's genius and technical mastery. Andrew Forge, a painter himself as well as a writer, has brought his keen intelligence and lucid descriptive style to bear on the text, making as clear as possible the mind of this intriguing, enigmatic man. He brings us Degas's life: his privileged upbringing: his travels to Italy and America; his close contact with Monet, Manet, Cassatt, and the other Impressionists; his love of theatre, music, and ballet; and the ceaseless quest for perfection in his art that caused him to draw and redraw the same subjects over and over again, making them completely his own in the process. First-hand, eyewitness account, of Degas and his contemporaries, unearthed from periodicals, letters, and diaries of the period, as well as three of Degas's own sonnets—all expertly translated by the poet Richard Howard—help bring fresh. authentic light to this study. Taken together text, pictures. and documents present as detailed portrait as will ever be drawn of this remarkable and brilliant artist. 324 illustrations, including 121 plates in full colour