Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas’ “Waiting”

Among the most interesting work of modern art on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum is Edgar Germain Hilaire withdraw waiting, a pastel painting done around 1882. In this work, Degas captures the picture of a young ballerina and an older charr sitting on a bench, apparently waiting for something to happen or someone to arrive. The painting is a study of the sharp logical argument between early days and old age, which is illustrated in the play of color in, light, and shadows that the puma carefully preserved in his work.The young ballerina is painted in soft colors of gold, blue, and cream which spring the light while the older cleaning woman is garbed in black. In the same manner, the younger emergence is painted to suggest motion, energy and restlessness here(predicate) she is massaging her feet, apparently waiting for a performance to begin. The woman, on the separate hand, is immobile, devoid of light movement and comes across to be waiting for the action to end so sh e can rest.Degas Waiting is displayed in a small dark room located on the left side of the museum entrance. Exhibited along with it are German painter Joseph Viviens Portrait of a creation and Swiss painter Jean-tienne Liotards Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven. The darkness of the room brings out the sharp contrast in colors and the use of light in the pastels. Likewise, its small size is clearly meant to convey a aesthesis of intimacy wherein the viewer feels a sense of privilege at catching a glimpse of so personal a thing as an individuals portrait.The arrangement of the paintings depicts the various influences of artists consort to their respective periods. In particular, the works show the progression of portraiture and the use of pastel as a medium since Viviens Portrait of a Man in 1725 to Degas Waiting a century and a half later. It is clear that Degas work is a huge departure from the conventional supposition of painting peoples portraits. Viviens portrait is carefully composed according to the artistic conventions of balance and color its subject is self-consciously positioned at the midst of the canvass, capturing the face, and his figure appears to come out of the shadows.Viviens colors are austere and sombre, which reflects the prevailing style at that time. Liotards Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone, on the other hand, reflects a subtle change in the painters pallet from Viviens dark, muted colors to bold, albeit cold tones. However, the same rule is applied regarding the subjects position. Hence, Degas Waiting stands out in sharp contrast to the both paintings.First, he clearly circumvents the prevailing concept of portraiture by showing two subjects who assume positions that are not usually accepted in portraiture the young girl is shown massaging her feet, which makes her face unseen by the audience, while the womans face is half-covered by her hat. Degas also draws his subjects from a very different angle and perspective he i s obviously not as interested in showing their facial countenances as in showing their characters through body language. He also abandons the dark tones in favor of bold, bright, and warm colors to create dramatic contrasts in his work.Waiting illustrates Degas affinity with the impressionisticic movement, although he apparently abhorred being called one because of major ideological rifts with prominent impressionist painters. He particularly criticized his self-confessed impressionist contemporaries for their practice of painting in plein-air as he believed that it was tantamount to copying which interfered with the artists imagination. (Smith 58) Nevertheless, Degas work clearly shares the same impressionist characteristics as shown in his style and choice of events and people of everyday life as subjects.Like the works of most impressionist painters such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Jean Frederic Bazille, and Camille Pi ssarro, Degas Waiting reflected the belief that art should relate to the real world and reflect modern life as opposed to painting religious and mythological figures that was traditionally favored by connosieurs of high art. (Snider) Its choice of subject, a ballerina and her companion in the process of waiting, captures an reflection of modern French life. Its style undoubtedly mirrors the impressionists fascination with capturing light in the most realistic manner, and its colors also carry the impressionist preference for warm, vibrant tones that suggest movement and life.Although Degas works and his obsession with the figures of women, particularly dancers, in his paintings have often invited varied interpretation from art critics and academicians, it is clear that his middle-class footing and upbringing has tremendous influence in shaping his choice of subjects. (Theodore 145) Reff Theodore infers that Degas fall downion for painting movement arose from his early exposure to the ballet which was a known part of the contemporary scene in nineteenth century Paris. (145)The impact of Degas background is also seen in his being deeply concerned with uprightness for its own sake, in probing life beneath the crust of good manners (Nicolson 172) in his depiction of Parisian modern life. In Waiting, Degas aboveboard portrays the differences between his subjects, in effect making a statement about the sad truth that the young ballerina, with all her vibrancy and beauty, will soon pass into the life of her companion, drained and weary of the world.It is suggested that Degas and other impressionists ideas were largely influenced by the rapid technological and social developments of their time. Indeed, impressionism drew much of its ideas from innovations, techniques, and concepts in photography. (Snider) Clearly, Degas and his contemporaries were so impressed by the ability of photographs to capture the exact effect of light on its subjects that they sought to recreate this ability in their paintings. Other painters, corresponding Monet, even tried to copy the photographic effects of varying shutter speeds in his work. (Snider)Degas background as an artist produced and molded by extraordinary and tumultous changes in his time that was brought about by the rapid industrialization of France and all of Europe, his pastel work Waiting could be displayed in another gallery together with Claude Monets Gare Saint-Lazare, a painting which shows the Saint-Lazare train station. This painting would give a contemporary audience an idea of Waitings background as the train is a ubiquitous symbol of the industrial revolution which gripped not only the economic but also cultural life of Europe in Degas time. Hence, Monets work sets the mood for Degas curious study of youth and old age in the age of modernity, where everything passes quickly.Other works that could be exhibited alongside Degas Waiting is Auguste Renoirs painting The Dance at the Moulin De lagalette and Degas own work The Millinery Shop which shows the social activities of the French middle class and the activities of working-class women, respectively. The two paintings would also highlight the contrast that Degas sought to portray in his subjects, wherein Renoirs middle-class subjects, painted as they socialize in a party, is compared with a lone woman while making hats that are ostensibly worn by those who can afford it. Likewise, Andy Warhols Campbell Soup Cans would also be a fitting touch to the gallery as it signifies the advent of mass production. Although Warhols work is at odds with the impressionist theme of Degas work, it nevertheless echoes the mundanity and repetitive pattern of modern life that Degas captures in his painting.Works CitedNicolson, Benedict. Degas Monotypes. The Burlington Magazine 100.662 (May 1958)172-175Reff, Theodore. Edgar Degas and the Dance. Arts Magazine 53.3(November 1978)145-149.Smith, George E. James, Degas, and the Modern View. NOVEL A gathering on Fiction 21.1 (Autumn 1987) 56-72Snider, Lindsay. A Lasting Impression French Painters Revolutionize the Art World. The History Teacher, 25.1(November 2001). 5 May 2008. http//historycooperative.org/