Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834-1917). The eldest son of a well-to-do family the cynical, snobby loner was able to devote his life to the arts. Furthermore, he remained a bachelor, because: ‘There is love and there is work, and we only have one heart.’ Although he referred to himself as an ‘independent realist’, he was very much involved in the impressionistic revolution and the themes and techniques developed in his works are considered to have formed the synthesis between the traditional and modern art of painting.