The Dancing Class: A Painting by Edgar Degas
An informal scene, carefully crafted with interesting details
Edgar Degas was born in Paris on 19th July 1834. He was baptized Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas, but adopted the less pretentious “Degas” early in his career as an artist. His father, Auguste de Gas, was a successful banker, while his mother, Celestine Musson, came from a wealthy colonial family. Her death when Degas was only 13 was a highly painful event during his early years.
As the child of well-off parents, Degas received a sound classical education at the Lycee Louis-le-Grand and then went on to study law. However, by his own account he spent most of his time copying the masterpieces in the Louvre. Eventually he told his father that he could not go on with law, and Auguste de Gas agreed to let the 18-year-old Edgar take up a career as a painter. A room in the de Gas house was converted into a studio, and Edgar was sent to study under two now-forgotten masters — first Fe1ix-Joseph Barrias, and later Louis Lamothe.
Lamothe had been a pupil of Jean Dominique Ingres, and in 1855 Degas met the master himself, then aged 75, who gave him sound advice:
“Draw lines, young man, many lines, from memory or from nature; in this way you will become a…
