Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas, Martin Schwander, Fondation Beyeler Staff, Carol Armstrong, Mareike Wolf-Scheel

"In light of the popular, "beautiful" paintings of his Impressionist phase, it is easy to lose sight of the complexity of the oeuvre of Edgar Degas (1834-1917). All his life, the artist experimented with printing techniques and drawing as well as photography and sculpture. In his late work (1890-1910/12), the delicate, detailed painting of his mature period yields to a unique pleasure in technical experimentation and an obsessive creativity, which increasingly liberated the means of depiction from its reproductive function. As if in a dreamlike state, the present and past, things seen and remembered, are united, resulting in nude studies, ballet scenes, landscapes, and portraits. This is the first publication to present a comprehensive view of the technical diversity and wide range of themes in Degas' oeuvre."--Publisher's website.