A comprehensive new reference book on the influential impressionist artist Edgar Degas, providing a detailed exploration of his life and the times in which he lived as well as a gallery of his best-known and most-loved works.
Jon Kear examines Cezanne's youth in Provence, a formative period which left a deep and abiding impression on the artist's painting, as well as exploring his turbulent time in Paris and the larger-than-life artistic persona he created for himself during these years. His initial style, characterized by violent and explicit subject matter and a rugged manner of painting, gave rise to an enduring mythology of the artist. Jon Kear explores the personal and artistic relationships that influenced Cezanne: from his close friendship with Emile Zola to his artistic dialogue with Edouard Manet, collaboration with Camille Pissarro and association with the impressionists. Above all, this book tells the story of Cezanne's life as a part of the pivotal shift towards the twentieth century, illuminating how much his work and ideas helped to usher it in. -- Back cover of book.
This sumptuous and informative book provides a detailed exploration of Degas' life and the times in which he lived, as well as featuring a gallery of 300 of his best-known and most loved works, including oil paintings, sketches, drawings, pastels, monoprints and sculptures. The first section provides a narrative to Degas' life, the influences that shaped his work, the themes that fascinated him and the development of his style. The second section contains the iconic images of ballet dancers, bathers, cafés, café-concerts and scenes of horse-racing for which Degas is famed: subjects that depicted the lifestyles of the haute bourgeoisie as well as working-class Parisians.