Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor associated with the Impressionist circle, though he preferred to call himself a realist. Trained in Paris and steeped in the Old Masters during years spent in Italy, he became known for scenes of modern urban life: ballet dancers, milliners, laundresses, café patrons, and racehorses. He worked extensively in pastel, oil, monotype, and wax, and his compositions favored unusual angles, cropping, and asymmetry. He helped organize most of the Impressionist exhibitions while remaining independent in temperament. His eyesight declined in later decades. He spent nearly his entire career in Paris, where he died in 1917.