Edgar Degas (1834 Paris – 1917 Paris), "The Surprised Woman" ("Femme surprise")

Biography
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas (Degas) was born on July 19, 1834, in Paris, into a family with aristocratic roots. He initially studied law but soon abandoned that field and, as early as 1855, enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. During this period, he copied works by the great masters and frequently visited the Louvre in Paris. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres became his artistic mentor. Despite his individuality, Degas remained forever faithful to tradition, which he modified in his own way. From 1856 to 1859, he lived in Italy. There, he studied and visited numerous museums. Upon his return, he began experimenting with sculpture, likely influenced by the works of Renaissance and Mannerist artists he had seen in Italy. In 1865, he exhibited a painting for the first time at the Paris Salon, where he would exhibit regularly from then on. In the early 1870s, he took part in the Franco-Prussian War and, together with his brother René, visited his mother’s family living in New Orleans. At that time, he increasingly turned to pastels, perfecting this technique. Beginning in April 1874, he regularly exhibited his works alongside the Impressionists. In 1881, during the Sixth Exhibition, his pastel composition “The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer” was presented. In the late 1880s, Degas became interested in photography, which was becoming increasingly widespread. The influence of this medium is clearly evident in his drawings, paintings, and sculptures. Degas lived and worked in Montmartre, a Parisian neighborhood iconic for the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Toward the end of his life, in 1912, he moved to an apartment building located at 6 Boulevard de Clichy, where he died in 1917. Charles Baudelaire once described the artist as “the painter of modern life.” Degas faithfully depicted the reality around him. Ballet dancers, women, and horse racing were the subject areas that most interested the artist.