From the artist's life
Degas's sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen shocked viewers with its real tutu and hair — they called the realistic wax figure ugly and disturbing.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaImpressionism
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was the painter of dancers, racehorses and modern Parisian life. Though counted among the Impressionists, he called himself a Realist devoted above all to drawing and movement.
His daring, off-centre compositions, influenced by photography and Japanese prints, redefined how a picture could be framed.
- Obsessively painted ballet dancers, capturing rehearsal, exhaustion and fleeting movement.
- Pioneered cropped, asymmetrical compositions borrowed from photography and Japanese prints.
- Worked increasingly in pastel as his eyesight failed, glowing with colour to the end.
Key works
Where to start
Complete list of key works
Works with a dedicated ArtAtlas page are highlighted in gold.
- L'AbsintheOn ArtAtlas
- The Ballet ClassOn ArtAtlas
- Little Dancer of Fourteen YearsOn ArtAtlas
- The Bellelli FamilyListed for reference
- Blue DancersListed for reference
- InteriorListed for reference
- Miss La La at the Cirque FernandoListed for reference
- The Millinery Shop by Edgar DegasListed for reference
- Count Lepic and His DaughtersListed for reference
- Ukrainian dancersListed for reference
- The TubListed for reference
- A Cotton Office in New OrleansListed for reference
1875
L'Absinthe
L'Absinthe is a painting by Edgar Degas, painted between 1875 and 1876. Its original title was Dans un Café, a name often used today.
1871
The Ballet Class
1881
Little Dancer of Fourteen Years
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer is a sculpture begun c. 1880 by Edgar Degas of a young student of the Paris Opera Ballet dance school, a Belgian named Marie van Goethem.