Edgar Degas: Last Academic or First Modernist

Degas’ interest for the new techniques and the foreign art. In the mid 1800s there was a continued increase of exchanges between Europe and foreign countries. The exchange was not only commercial but also involved cultures, ideas, and styles. At that time the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai was searching for new ideas and techniques from his European colleagues, although at that time such exchanges were opposed by the Japanese government. Similarly, European artists started to express more desire to learn from exotic cultures. This modernist trend manifested itself also in new materials, such as pastels, yellow wax, real hair, real cloth for sculptures, etc.

Degas’ interest for unconventional subjects. The interest on prostitutes, poor people, working class people is a sign of change in the society and a departure from the traditionalists attitude of choosing subjec

In the end I would like to talk about some similarity between the nineteen century cultures of Paris and Japan (late Edo period). It is known Japanese painters inspired Degas. From a technological point of view, Japan was about hundred years behind the European countries (because exchanges were prohibited by the Japanese government). For that reason I assume that the life tempo of Edo people was slower than in Paris. But in the late Edo period, even if it was still a samurai dominated society, the working class was very active just as the Parisian working class. Merchants and craft workers gained importance and created their own culture in contrast with the traditionalist culture. There were growing opportunities for entertainments tailored to the new taste of the working class. For what concerns the arts, ‘Ukiyoe’, which literally means ‘modern painting’, became trendy. Often times geisha (women entertaining patrons with dance or songs), yujyo (prostitutes) and kabuki actors were modeled in these paintings. In these paintings there are interesting compositions, bright colors and absolutely no three dimensions. In addition the late Edo painter did not express much personal feeling about the models but only tried to depict the beauty and harmony of the scene. I learned that Japanese paintings influenced Degas with their diagonal lines, bright colors and flatness. It seems to me that similar circumstances created similar movement to both artists Degas and Japanese painters. They went threw same kind of era which had a lot of movement toward to new societies (in Europe socialisms was becoming mainstream, in Japan Tokugawa political power ended in 1868 because of “Meiji restoration” meaning that samurai society collapsed and Japan more open for diplomacy. In both there had been conflict for civilization and toward to globalization).

The other two paintings I studied are the “Nude Wiping Her Foot” and “The Tub”. These paintings portrait very private scenes. From the lecture and a book I learned that these models are p

Some topics in this essay:
D’Orsay Paris, Similarly European, Paris Japan, Wiping Foot”, , Japan Tokugawa, D’Orsay” Degas, Venus Degas, Degas Japanese, Katsushika Hokusai, bright colors, japanese paintings, edo period, diagonal lines, snap shot, japanese painters, “the tub”, late edo, “nude wiping foot”, lectures book, low class, influence photography technology, late edo period, degas diagonal lines,