Edgar Degas: Drawings and Pastels

by Christopher Lloyd

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was described as 'the most intelligent, the most demanding, the most merciless draughtsman in the world' by the poet and critic Paul Valéry and today Degas is considered one of the outstanding draughtsmen of the late nineteenth century. His powerful drawings and the pastels, which he himself characterized as 'orgies of colour', are some of the most compelling works in western art.

Drawing was not only the central tenet of Degas's art but also virtually a daily activity. Through an examination of the artist's drawings and pastels, which exist in great number and variety, Christopher Lloyd examines the development of Degas's style and outlines the story of his life in the contexts of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

Following a broadly chronological approach, Lloyd discusses the wide range of Degas's work: the images of ballet dancers (which form over half of the artist's oeuvre), jockeys, laundresses, milliners and female nudes, as well as the less well-known landscape drawings. With over 200 illustrations that capture the most fleeting of subtleties and shades, this book provides a comprehensive and engaging account of the artist as draughtsman.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Biography

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Christopher Lloyd CVO is a British art historian and was Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures (1988–2005). Lloyd worked in the Department of Western Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for twenty years. In 1972, he was appointed to a fellowship at Harvard University's Center for Renaissance Studies, Villa I Tatti, in Florence, Italy. During 1980–81, he was a visiting research curator at the Art Institute of Chicago, concentrating on the art of early Italy.

Reviews

[Ofelia]

I always find it fascinating to hear about artist’s lives and the pursuit of their passion. Creativity, art in its different forms is something that makes humans stand out from other animals; sure, other animals can be creative in their way but for them it’s solely to sustain their primal needs to survive, such as getting food and finding shelter. For humans it’s something completely different. It’s the sustenance for our souls.

My chosen art form is writing and story-telling. It’s something that I’ve grown up with: my dad was, is, a great storyteller and I still fondly remember when our whole family used to sit at our sauna together and how my dad told me and my little brother stories. As for myself I fell in love with writing before I fell in love with reading. I think my whole personality has evolved from that specific moment, when I wrote my first story. Not that it was great or anything but it was the seed. That small yet so vital seed.

Either way, reading about the life of Edward Degas and how he dedicated his whole life (he never had a family of his own) to his art makes me kind of jealous. Because I can’t do that anymore. But as with everything, you loose some and you win some. I suspect, even though art is very filling for the soul, that he lead a lonely life. Whereas I have other responsibilities, I’m a wife and even though spending time with my husband is something I want to do, it inevitably means that I get less time to write. But as I said, you win some and you loose some and the time spent with my husband is so precious to me. It’s priceless.

Anyhow, it was interesting to get to know more about my favourite painter and his art. Just the way he’s able to capture the light catching a piece of silk or the gracious lift of a ballerina’s leg, is a marvel to behold.

[Maria Fernanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contextualizes the works of Degas. Which is nice, but after a while sounds like a broken record.
My main issue is the size of the images depicted in this book.
It's almost like the author and editors felt that the text was more important than the work by Degas, and that seems misguided.
Degas' life wasn't eventfull, he dedicated his wholelife for his work, so there's not a lot to say about him, except annalizing his phases and works, which this book does nicely. But then again, sometimes it's infuriating that the images are so small, so we can't really see the details that the author talks about. The only images that occupy two pages and are well sized seem undeserving, one of them being a landscape that looks more like a Rothko than a Degas.
Although this book has a nice collection of Degas drawing, i wouldn't buy this book if i knew then, what i know now.

[Tosca Wijns-Van Eeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book! Well illustrated, and very informative!

[Novia]

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