What Degas Saw

by Samantha Friedman

Overview

What Degas Saw looks at the world through a beloved artist’s eyes and provides insight into his creative process. Walking through the streets of Paris with cape and cane, the French artist Edgar Degas observes the world around him, finding inspiration at every turn. From the blurry faces of passersby glimpsed through a bus window to the sun-dappled landscape seen from a moving train, from the hunched profiles of laundresses at work to light-bathed ballerinas on the opera house stage, the artist—with open eyes and a curious mind—collects impressions of the people and places he sees. Accompanies major MoMA exhibition, Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty, on view March 26 through July 24, 2016.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633450042
Publisher:	The Museum of Modern Art
Publication date:	05/17/2016
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Samantha Friedman is an assistant curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. She is the author of Matisse’s Garden, among other books on modern art. She lives Brooklyn.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was a painter, draftsman, printmaker, and sculptor celebrated for his scenes of modern life.

Editorial Reviews

"An interesting view into the relationship between an artist and his daily life, and it will be useful as a preparation for a museum trip."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Friedman's text, artful and elegant, is perfectly choreographed with the artwork and design. The author finds just the right words for Degas's impulse to 'try to describe the city's push and pull, its run and jump, its lean and stretch.' A work of art."

Shelf Awareness

05/01/2016
K-Gr 3—Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was born, raised, and educated in Paris and as an artist exhibited there as well. The city and its bustling avenues, milliner shops and laundries, Opera House, and other sites were his inspiration and the people who lived and worked there, his subjects. Friedman's simple text relates how Degas, one of the founding members of impressionism, liked to travel about the city in a cape and top hat, with a cane in hand, observing and translating what he saw into art. The brief text also works in a few personal details, such as the location of his studio, and describes the man's early artistic style. Pieropan's expansive prints, which illustrate the story, often adopt the shallow, stagelike settings and the unusual perspectives of Degas's art. They alternate with full-page, quality reproductions of the master's work in several mediums, from his monotypes of men and women living and working in Paris to pastels of ballerinas—onstage and offstage. An author's note provides additional biographical information on the artist and details on the reproductions. VERDICT Libraries—both close to and far from museums—in need of introductions to art and artists will want to consider this beautifully illustrated volume.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

School Library Journal