Frammenti di luce e di colore Una finestra sull'Impressionismo | Page 73

3. Edgar
Degas
Degas travelled to Italy. He painted a lot
of copies of works by Michelangelo and
other Renaissance artists. He returned
to France in 1859, and moved to a larger
studio in Paris. In this period he pain-
ted The Bellelli Family. In 1861, in Nor-
mandy, Degas began to grow interest in
making studies of horses. In this period
he painted mainly history paintings, and
he exhibited various times at the Salon.
Afterwards, in 1864, Degas met Édouard
Manet, while both were copying the
same Velázquez portrait in the Louvre.
He met Renoir, Monet and other artists,
and he went often to the Café Guerbois.
In 1868, he went to London with Manet,
and began to paint dance, music and
theatre scenes (he had a musician friend
who worked at the Opéra). In 1969 he tra-
velled to Belgium. In 1870 he enlisted in
the army. During the Paris Commune, he
stayed in Normandy with friends, and
found out he had an eye disease. After
the war, he visited some relatives in New
Orleans. Degas returned to Paris in 1873
and his father died the following year, he
learned that his brother René had a lot
of debts, too. To give economic assistance
to his family, Degas turned his passion
for painting into a job, his greatest works
come from this period. He left Law and
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