Product Description
This beautiful book reproduces more than 120 paintings, drawings, pastels, sculptures, and prints of horses and scenes at the racecourse-all created by Edgar Degas. Examining for the first time Degas`s lifelong interest in the world of jockeys and horses, the book discusses the artist`s portrayals of people at the racing grounds and the importance of the horse as a source of his inspiration. ... Read more

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Edgar Degas's painting entitled "A Cotton Office in New Orleans" is one of the most significant images of nineteenth-century capitalism, in part because it was the first painting by an Impressionist to be purchased by a museum. Drawing upon archival materials, Marilyn R. Brown explores the accumulated social meanings of the work in light of shifting audiences and changing market conditions and assesses the artist's complicated relationship to the business of art.Despite the financial failure of the actual cotton firm he represented, Degas carefully constructed his picture with a particular buyer-a British textile manufacturer-in mind. However, world events, including an international stock market crash and declines in the market for cotton and art, destroyed his hopes for this sale. It was under these circumstances that the canvas was exhibited in the second Impressionist show in Paris in 1876. While it received a more positive response than other works exhibited, its success was with the conservative audience. After considerable difficulty, Degas finally succeeded in selling the painting in 1878 to the newly founded museum in the city of Pau. The painting was probably regarded as an appropriate homageto the old textile manufacturing family who funded its purchase. It also appealed to "progressive" provincial and more cosmopolitan audiences in Pau. The picture's scattered form and atomized figures-in which some interpreters today read evidence of the artist's own ambivalence about capitalism-seemingly contributed to its "innovative" cachet in Pau. But the private and public meanings of the painting had shifted, in discontinuous fashion, between its production and consumption. Under the circumstances, Degas's unfixed and even mixed messages about business became, among other things, his most successful (if unwitting) marketing strategy. The official recognition Degas received in Pau in 1878 heralded the gradual upswing of his own financial status during the 1880s, but his attitudes towards success remained mixed. ... Read more

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Edgar Degas traveled from Paris to New Orleans during the fall of 1872 to visit the American branch of his mothers family, the Mussons. This war-torn, diverse, and conflicted city elicited from Degas some of his finest paintings. He arrived at a key moment in the cultural history of this most exotic of American cities, still recovering from the agony of the Civil War. This decisive period of Reconstruction, in which his American relatives were importantly involved, was also the time when the American writers Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable were beginning to mine the resources of New Orleans culture and history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Everyone in New Orleans... and Degas shows up for about 15 pages.
This book is quite informative, just not about Edgar Degas. For the first few chapters I had the feeling that all this information about everyone else was setting the stage for Degas to become, as the title would suggest, a focus of this book. I still had that same feeling while reading the final chapter.

The book would have been more aptly titled "New Orleans from 1865 to 1879, with a Brief Visit by Edgar Degas in 1872". If you've been to New Orleans or are interested in its history or never gave it much thought until Hurricane Katrina and are now curious, this book could be good for you. If you really want a book that focuses on Degas the artist, man, etc... this is not your book.

Beyond that, 1 thing that still bothers me is that I've never read anything by Kate Chopin. In fact I'd never heard of her or Cable until I grabbed this book. I was substantially into their portions of the book, so much so that I'd decided to see which (if any) of their books I could find at my library. I was none too pleased when this book suddenly gave away the ending of one of Chopin's books I'd already planned to read. Let that warn you. In those last couple chapters if you're beginning to care about those books being discussed, skip those sections until you've already read the books.

Of the 2 books I've just reviewed, All Poets Welcome: The Lower East Side Poetry Scene in the 1960s, Includes 35-track CD of audio clips of poetry readings was greatly preferred.

Absolutely original
Benfey's study is an elegant, exciting study with many facets. He truly evokes a vanished world. An interdisciplinary study which does not meander or bore. Highly recommended.

Great book!
This is one of the best books I have read.It's so fascinating, easy to read, and just interesting in general.I highly recommend it.

New Orleans Jazz....
Maybe the most important thing for you to know about this book is that it isn't just, or even mostly, about Edgar Degas. If you're in the market solely for an art book about Degas, you may not like this book. What this book is really about is 19th century New Orleans. Degas' 1872-1873 trip is the main theme which the author has used as his framework. Mr. Benfey "improvises" on this theme and goes off in interesting directions. He talks about what made New Orleans unique- theearly Creole settlers vs. the "Americans" that arrived after the Louisiana Purchase; the free black population (pre-Civil War) vs. the slaves who became free because of the war; the rupture caused by the war- as New Orleans was occupied by Federal forces through almost all of the conflict. (Many of the local women proved to be fairly feisty in showing their contempt for the Yankees. One woman in the French Quarter supposedly downloaded the contents of a chamber pot onto Admiral Farragut's head. On another occasion, the soldier in charge of keeping order, General Benjamin "Beast" Butler, was riding by some women and they all turned their backs to him. Butler remarked, "those women evidently know which end of them looks best.") After the Civil War the economy, based almost solely on King Cotton, took a beating in the Depression of the 1870's. Yankee "carpetbaggers" were despised. Liberals who wanted integration of the races did battle, sometimes literally, with reactionary forces who yearned for a return to the days of slavery. Mr. Benfey works in some analysis of the writers Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable, who were interested in some of the above themes. The author does devote a fairly good portion of the book to discussing Degas' "Louisiana Connection," (his mother was born in New Orleans; he had relatives who were involved in the cotton trade; and his younger brother, Rene, left France to try to make his fortune in New Orleans). If you enjoy Degas' art, you will find Mr. Benfey's musings on the portraits and "genre scenes" that Degas did during this period to be interesting and informative. For example, from a purely painterly standpoint, Degas enjoyed the juxtaposition of black and white skin, as well as the white of cotton against the black suits and hats commonly worn by businessmen of the time. Mr. Benfey also, convincingly, shows that Degas' started to use, in these paintings, certain compositional effects- such as slanted floors, the arrangement of figures in interior spaces, and certain hand and head movements- that would shortly reappear in the more famous "ballet paintings." We also see Degas in transition from his early "realistic" phase to a looser, more "Impressionistic" style of painting. I also found it interesting that Degas was fascinated by many things he saw while walking around New Orleans, but he was limited mostly to painting interior scenes because the light of New Orleans was bothering his eyes. (He started to have problems with his vision while serving in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. By the time of his death in 1917 he was nearly blind.) There was enough about Degas and his family and art in this book to satisfy me, plus I enjoyed Mr. Benfey's "improvisations." If, in addition to being a Degas fan, you have any interest in the antebellum and post-Civil War worlds of New Orleans, I think you will get a lot of enjoyment and intellectual stimulation from this book.

New Orleans Jazz....
Maybe the most important thing for you to know about this book is that it isn't just, or even mostly, about Edgar Degas. If you're in the market solely for an art book about Degas, you may not like this book. What this book is really about is 19th century New Orleans. Degas' 1872-1873 trip is the main theme which the author has used as his framework. Mr. Benfey "improvises" on this theme and goes off in interesting directions. He talks about what made New Orleans unique- theearly Creole settlers vs. the "Americans" that arrived after the Louisiana Purchase; the free black population (pre-Civil War) vs. the slaves who became free because of the war; the rupture caused by the war- as New Orleans was occupied by Federal forces through almost all of the conflict. (Many of the local women proved to be fairly feisty in showing their contempt for the Yankees. One woman in the French Quarter supposedly downloaded the contents of a chamber pot onto Admiral Farragut's head. On another occasion, the soldier in charge of keeping order, General Benjamin "Beast" Butler, was riding by some women and they all turned their backs to him. Butler remarked, "those women evidently know which end of them looks best.") After the Civil War the economy, based almost solely on King Cotton, took a beating in the Depression of the 1870's. Yankee "carpetbaggers" were despised. Liberals who wanted integration of the races did battle, sometimes literally, with reactionary forces who yearned for a return to the days of slavery. Mr. Benfey works in some analysis of the writers Kate Chopin and George Washington Cable, who were interested in some of the above themes. The author does devote a fairly good portion of the book to discussing Degas' "Louisiana Connection," (his mother was born in New Orleans; he had relatives who were involved in the cotton trade; and his younger brother, Rene, left France to try to make his fortune in New Orleans). If you enjoy Degas' art, you will find Mr. Benfey's musings on the portraits and "genre scenes" that Degas did during this period to be interesting and informative. For example, from a purely painterly standpoint, Degas enjoyed the juxtaposition of black and white skin, as well as the white of cotton against the black suits and hats commonly worn by businessmen of the time. Mr. Benfey also, convincingly, shows that Degas' started to use, in these paintings, certain compositional effects- such as slanted floors, the arrangement of figures in interior spaces, and certain hand and head movements- that would shortly reappear in the more famous "ballet paintings." We also see Degas in transition from his early "realistic" phase to a looser, more "Impressionistic" style of painting. I also found it interesting that Degas was fascinated by many things he saw while walking around New Orleans, but he was limited mostly to painting interior scenes because the light of New Orleans was bothering his eyes. (He started to have problems with his vision while serving in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. By the time of his death in 1917 he was nearly blind.) There was enough about Degas and his family and art in this book to satisfy me, plus I enjoyed Mr. Benfey's "improvisations." If, in addition to being a Degas fan, you have any interest in the antebellum and post-Civil War worlds of New Orleans, I think you will get a lot of enjoyment and intellectual stimulation from this book. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the 19th-century’s most important artists, Edgar Degas captured for all time the most common and fleeting movements of ballet dancers, women bathing, racehorses, and other subjects. This magnificent collection of first-rate art reproductions includes many of his finest works, among them The Orchestra of the Opéra, The Dancer’s Dressing Room, At the Races, Women Ironing, La Chanson du Chien, The Tub, Beach Scene, and many more. Ideal for sending brief messages to art-loving friends and relatives, these lovely cards can also be framed or added to a personal collection. .
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Product Description
This vividly colored giftwrap, comprising an amazing 89 images from Degas' much-loved scenes of ballet performers, will add a graceful note to any occasion for gift-giving. Two full-color 18" x 24" sheets of the same design come with three matching gift cards. Shrink-wrapped in a sturdy 9 1/4" x 12 1/4" folder (with no staples to mar the wrap), the sheets remain fresh and wrinkle-free till ready for use. Best of all, this giftwrap is just a fraction of the price of products available in stationery stores.
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Product Description
EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917) became a professional painter through a change in his family's fortunes.He grew up the privileged son of wealthy and cultured parents and despite his interest in art was destined for a career in law until the failure of the family bank.
More than any of his famous contemporaries, while possibly excluding Manet, Degas was a traditionalist painter.He was dismissive of the Impressionist technique as a method, although he participated in most of the group's early exhibitions.As a result, he is more closely allied in popular understanding with Impressionism than he himself ever wished to be.
Best known for his paintings of ballet Dancers, Degas was an urbane and savagely witty man, choosing his subjects from the cultured society life of Paris in which he was a well known figure. ... Read more

Product Description
Collection of Degas pastels. 32 paintings full page reproductions. 88 pages ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Love it!
The cover caught my attention. While I am familiar with Degas' work, I had not singled out his pastels. But I have been loving every page I have seen so far. The cover art is breathtaking with its stage light glowing from below. Interior art is reproduced well and flows nicely with commentary. Degas used very dynamic angles in many of his compositions which adds interest and drama visually. Easy to understand why impressionists had a hard time being acknowledged in their day and why they continue to look fresh to us today. ... Read more