While Degas the artist was often labeled an Impressionist, he did not paint outdoors as traditional Impressionists did. Besides Degas’ ballerina paintings, he also liked to produce portraits, as well as paintings of racehorses and jockeys.
Degas started painting at a relatively young age. He had transformed a room in his house into a studio by the time he finished his studies at Lycée in 1853, at the age of 18.
The influence of Édouard Manet, whom Degas had met in 1864 when both were reproducing the same Velázquez painting in the Louvre Museum, inspired the shift in his work the most.
Disillusioned with the Salon by this point, he joined a group of young painters who were forming an alternative exhibition society. This group was subsequently referred to as the Impressionists.
Degas grew fascinated by photography in the late 1880s. Many of his acquaintances were photographed by him, usually by lamplight, as in his double portraiture of Mallarmé and Renoir.
Degas was also intrigued by the conflicts that existed between the sexes. Degas’ early works revealed the mature style that he would develop by cropping subjects unnaturally and employing unconventional points of view.
Although Degas routinely explored techniques to connect graphic art with oil painting, drawing with pastels and sculpture with photography, academics have concluded that the sculptures were not made as references for his paintings.
During his lifetime, Degas the artist produced works that were met with both public contempt and admiration. His art was polarizing, although it was widely acclaimed for its draftsmanship.