Synopsis

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was one of the greatest French painters of the late nineteenth century. This film subtly examines the relationship between his life and work, exploring his preoccupation with themes of tension, isolation and vulnerability.

Horses, female nudes, and the ever-recurring enchanting dancers compose the world of Edgar Degas. Himself the son of the nobility, he chose to study humans in everyday situations, and life in motion. A tightening of the shoelae, a horse mid-gallop, a bathing woman - Degas, close to the Impressionists, provoked Paris' art critics with these snapshots captured in off-centre framings, radical perspectives and compositions. Ann Turner delves into the atmosphere of the works and reveals, besides Degas the gifted draughtsman and painter, also an experimental graphic artist, sculptor, photographer and poet.

Art Lives, from Arthaus, is a powerful and arresting series of documentaries on artists and art movements released for the first time on DVD in the English language.