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Activity 8:Bonjour! My Name is Edgar Degas |
Edgar Degas was from France (show it on a map), the son of a banker. His mother was from New Orleans. Degas painted in a style of painting called impressionism, which means his paintings did not look like a photograph, but were made using lots of color and light. His paintings were soft and almost dreamlike. Degas watched people's movements and gestures. He painted what he saw. When he painted, he always asked himself, "Have I accomplished what I set out to do?"Degas first came to the United States with his brother when he was 30 years old. He was enchanted with New Orleans: its paddleboats, its cotton business and its people. One of Degas' famous paintings is of the Cotton Exchange in New Orleans. This painting now hangs in the Musee de Pau in Paris, France. Another of his paintings is of children painted from the doorstep of a house at the corner of Esplanade and Tonti streets.
While in New Orleans, Degas painted New Orleans dancers at a rehearsal. Some experts think that experience led to his interest in dancers. Many of his most famous paintings are of dancers.
Though he liked Louisiana, Edgar's heart was in Paris, and that is where he spent most of his life.
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