Definition:
The French artist Edgar Degas is probably best known for his Impressionist artworks of ballet dancers, done using pastels.
Degas's original name was Hilaire Germain Edgar De Gas. He was born in Paris, France, on 19 July 1834, to a French father (who was a banker) and an American mother. He died in the city on 27 September 1917 at the age of 83.
Degas initially studied law, enrolling at the Sorbonne in 1853, but abandoned this for art. He found the atmosphere at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts stifling and instead opted to study and copying the masters, including several years in Italy.
His work was included in what's regarded as the first exhibition of Impressionist art, the exhibition of the Société Anonyme des Artistes held on 15 April 1874. It was in the 1870s that he started creating his works featuring ballet dancers and opera singers.
Degas was also a sculptor; his pieces include some figures of dances. As his blindness progressed (he started going blind in the 1880s), he focused more on his sculpture.
