DEGAS

Despite the popularity of his work, Edgar Degas has remained one of the most elusive of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. To his contemporaries he was always a very private man, rather aloof and inclined to cynicism. However, few could fault his skill as an artist, and his acute vision and mastery of design single him out as one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century art history. The ballet, the racecourse and women at their toilet were his three favorite themes and he returned to them again and again. Degas never forgot his early meeting with Ingres, the greatest upholder of the classical tradition, and from his early academic sketches to his late pastels the quality of his drawing never faltered.

The introductory essay by Keith Roberts was first published in 1976. For this new, expanded edition Helen Langdon, author of Impressionist Seasons (Phaidon, 1980) and lecturer at the National Gallery has written extensive notes to the 54 color plates and has added over thirty black-and-white comparative illustrations.