Degas and the figure

Degas (1834-1917) was trained at a time when drawing the nude was pivotal in art education and he painted and drew figures clothed and nude, throughout his long artistic career.  He began by drawing scenes with numerous figures as though to get in lots of practise.

Young Spartan Girls Challenging boys - Degas (1869-62) (1)

The figures we are so familiar with were meticulously observed and sketched time and time again and over his lifetime Degas developed his style into something very personal and innovative (1).

Degas spent time painting and drawing prostitutes and depicted their harsh working lives.  Many of these were not found until after his death.  In The Serious Client, Degas seems to be getting some amusement from the situation he is drawing.  It is almost cartoon like with unabashed girls and half a man.

The Serious Client - Degas (1876-77)  (2)

Later Degas moved on to paint and draw many pictures of women at their toilette, brushing their hair, bathing and towelling themselves dry. They are based on more classical ideas than his brothel drawings. I find them very intimate and sensitive.  

After the Bath - Degas (1891-2) (3)

The above drawing is a lesson to me in how not to overwork a drawing.  The marks here are spare but still there is movement in the towel as the woman dries herself.  Her hair looks wet as it hangs in a clump.  Degas gives no clue about the woman's surroundings.

Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe - Degas (1873) (4)

Degas planned his paintings by doing drawings and marking a grid so he could be accurate when he transferred the image.  I particularly like the Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe as it is from such an unusual angle.  There are many such preparatory images of dancers.

Towards the end of his life Degas began to draw in a more experimental way using charcoal in a vigorous and fluid way.

Femme se coiffant - Degas (1894) (5)

These figures are a million  miles away from the Spartan Girls.

I learn a lot from just looking at these wonderful drawings.  For instance in the last image the foreshortening of the right arm, the large hand and the small face are object lessons for a beginner. 

For the future there are Degas portraits to look at - what a treat.



(1) http://www.musee-orsay.fr/

(2)  http://www.artesmagazine.com/2011/12/museum-of-fine-arts-boston-with-comprehensive-exhibit-of-edgar-degas-nudes/

(3) http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/clark/degas

(4)  http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/29.100.941

(5) http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/edgar-degas-femme-se-coiffant-5532397-details.aspx