contemporary themes, painting both theatrical scenes and portraits with big emphasis on social and intellectual implications of props and setting. Around 1868 Degas began to get recognized as an artist. During the early 1870’s, the female became Degas’s favorite theme. In his studio he sketched from a live model and put poses together in groupings that illustrated rehearsal and performance scenes. In 1872 he visited some of his relatives in Louisiana, he painted The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans, which is his only picture that was aquired by a museum in his lifetime. Pastels became Edgar’s preferred type of art after 1880. By using sharper colors he gave more attention to surface patterning, depicting milliners, and laundresses. Degas depended on memory and earlier drawings for the poses. Even though he became guarded and withdrawn late in life, Edgar made strong friendships with literary people. He exhibited a sculpture in 1881, Little Dancer, and after that his eyesight failed. From there on he turned to sculpture, and modeling figures in wax over metal armatures. The sculptures he made stayed in his studio in disrepair and after his death were cast in bronze. ...
