Edgar Degas Prints

Many art critics like to classify the works of various artists into categories. However some artists such as the French painter, Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, (19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917) are not quite true to the category they have been assigned. Listed as an impressionist, Degas's paintings seem an alternative to the classic impressionist style, thus marking him as an individualist in his craft. Degas' fascination with everyday life became the subject for his paintings, whether it being in scenes at horse races, the theater, the opera, in cafés, pictures of dancers, or women washing and ironing. He lived most of his life in Paris. The artist used soft harmonious colors to create paintings with details that conveyed a snapshot effect; and gave the observer a surprising new way to look at the world. His main concern was to seize a situation or a moment; an interest that was also probably due to his admiration for photography, which at the time was still in its infancy.