Edgar Degas is one of the most innovative artists of the nineteenth century — and one of the least understood.
This course takes you beyond the ballerinas to reveal how Degas used composition, gesture, and prop to capture the rhythms of modern life, revealing social and psychological realities.
Introduction to Edgar Degas
Your Guide to Degas and the Art of Modern Life
This course introduces Edgar Degas through his life, artistic development, and key works.
Across 7 modules, you’ll explore his relationship with Impressionism and discover how he transformed scenes of family life, bourgeoisies, bathers, and ballet into studies of modernity, psychology, gender, and social life.
What you will study…
Degas' life, artistic training, and early influences.
Degas’ relationship to Impressionism.
How Degas’s family portraits revealed private tensions.
Why Degas’ bourgeoises remained confined to the domestic interior — and to gender norms.
How Degas’ bathers revolutionised the female nude.
How Degas elevated both the role of the ballerina and the female professional through his ballet scenes.
By the end, you will understand…
How Degas constructed his works to create meaning.
How his paintings differed from those of the Impressionists.
Why Degas remains one of the most innovative and influential artists of the nineteenth century.
How he allowed classical draughtsmanship with a modern vision to comment on gender, class, labour, and modernity.
How to look at and analyse paintings like The Bellelli Family, The Song Rehearsal, The Tub, and Dancers at the Barre.
Course Structure
-
Explore Degas' life, artistic training, and early influences, and discover how his classical education shaped one of the most innovative artists of the nineteenth century.
-
Examine Degas' complex relationship with Impressionism and learn how he forged a distinctive artistic vision that combined modern subject matter with classical discipline.
-
Discover how Degas transformed portraiture into psychological studies that reveal family relationships, emotion, and the hidden tensions of modern life.
-
Discover how Degas depicted bourgeois women to reveal the gender roles, social expectations, and domestic realities of nineteenth-century France.
-
Examine Degas' controversial depictions of bathers and explore how they challenged the traditional nude through themes of intimacy, voyeurism, and the female body.
-
Explore how Degas' ballet scenes challenge stereotypes of the ballerina, presenting dancers as dedicated artists whose craft was built on discipline, repetition, and relentless practice.
-
Reflect on Degas' lasting influence on modern art and discover why his innovative approach to composition, psychology, and everyday life continues to shape the way we look at art today.
This course is perfect for
Art history students
Museum and gallery visitors
Artists and creatives
Collectors and art enthusiasts
Anyone curious about nineteenth-century French art
Well, what are you waiting for?
✔ 7 Modules ✔ 110+ minutes of Guided Video Lectures ✔ Lifetime Access ✔ Watch Anytime
Frequently Asked Questions
-
No. The course is designed to be accessible to beginners while remaining intellectually rigorous enough for students and more experienced learners.
-
Yes. You will thoroughly analyse over 6 key works by Edgar Degas and understand how they represent his artistic techniques, communicate ideas of modernity, and fit into broader nineteenth-century French art.
-
Yes. A central aim of the course is to develop your ability to look closely at artworks and interpret composition, gesture, and meaning with confidence.
-
Yes. The course explains Degas’ complex relationship to Impressionism and shows how his work differs from Monet, Renoir, and other artists associated with the movement.
-
The course is organised into seven structured modules and over thirty focused lessons. You can move through them at your own pace.
-
Yes. The material reflects university-level approaches to visual analysis and historical interpretation, but is presented clearly and accessibly.
-
Most Impressionism courses survey several artists. This course focuses in depth on Degas, allowing a clearer understanding of his method, themes, and role in the development of modern painting.
-
Yes. The course is entirely self-paced and can be followed in your own time, from anywhere.
A deep dive into Edgar Degas' oeuvre, main themes, and techniques. Explore his artistic beginnings, his early portraits of families and bourgeoises, and his later preoccupation with bathers and ballet dancers. Through this course, you will not only understand the work of one of art history's most influencial painters but draw key conclusions about 19th-century French art and Impressionism.