Edgar Degas: Capturing the Human Spirit
             Many famous artists have attempted to capture the human spirit and essence of movement, but few have achieved the beautiful embodiment of it like Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas has. Dancers become immortalized and horses take on elegant qualities through Degas's deft, swift, Impressionist brush strokes. The warm neutral tones and occasional bright colors add feeling and raw emotion to his works, whether sculpture, oil paint, or pastels. Despite his temperamental behavior and various personal struggles, Degas is known as one of the foremost and key Impressionists worldwide. "Ballet Class" offers a peek into ordinary life in Paris and a glimpse into the world of Edgar Degas as well.
             Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas entered this world on July 19, 1834 quite appropriately in Paris, the City of Lights. Appropriately because light, among a few other things, is key to Impressionism and Degas's use of light brings out the subjects and important focus areas of his paintings. At the time of his birth, his family was spelling their surname "De Gas" to look and sound more aristocratic, but Degas returned to his roots and original surname spelling sometime around 1870. Degas's childhood is not of great significance; his father was a French banker and his mother was American, and they were fairly well off. At the impressively young age of eighteen, Degas was granted permission to copy paintings by the old masters on display in the Louvre. In 1855, Degas was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In the following years Degas travels a bit, to Italy and back, befriending Manet and participating in various exhibitions.
             Of all the Impressionists, Degas's style most closely resembles that of Manet. Degas, like Manet, tended to use darker, more muted colors, and his style also bordered on traditionalist. This is probably cause of copying many paintings in the Louvre. Similarities with all the impressi...