Hilaire Germain Edgar de Gas (it was only later that he started to sign his works 'Degas') was born in Paris, the son of a wealthy banker. He was the eldest of three boys and two girls. His mother died when he was only 13 years old. While growing up, his father expected him to become a banker as well which is why he did not begin studying art until he was twenty-one.

He was educated at the lycée Louis-le-Grand, a famous school for the elite, where he received a classical education and in 1853 enrolled at the Faculty of Law , although he preferred to spend his time in the print room of the Louvre where he had already made some copies from engravings, and also visiting the painting studios of Félix Barrias and Louis Lamothe. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and began to study officially with Lamothe, an old pupil of Ingres. After having finished his studies he went to Italy where he stayed for five years studying and meticulously copying the old masters of the Renaissance. His decision to study the old masters was typical for his perfectionist personality. Degas had a great admiration for Ingres and continued on his classical quest until he met Manet and the Impressionists.

After joining the new group of artists, Degas changed his subject matter, painting racetrack scenes sketched from life and finished in his studio, theatrical and ballet scenes, and many pictures of women. He worked in many different mediums and concentrated upon the portrayal of movement captured by his rapid pencil or brush. His skill as a draughtsman was extraordinary and his paintings have the feeling of immediacy that is usually associated with the camera. Degas also discarded classical rules of composition and frequently used an oblique angle with light coming from below to create a new type of theatrically focused space. In his oils, he applied his color in translucent cross-hatching and for his pastels used a technique in which color was applied in many successive layers, each layer except the last fixed to give a powdery, soft effect that was particularly effective in his ballet scenes.

Degas, in contrast to his impressionist colleagues, preferred to make sketches of his subjects on the spot and created the painting later in his studio. In his struggle for perfection, he repeated the same subjects over and over again. His anti-social behaviour increasingly began to surface and stories of his sharp tongue and crustiness were abundant. The art dealer Ambroise Vollard one day asked him why he had never married, to which he replied: "I would live in constant fear that, whenever I completed a new painting, I would hear my wife say ' That's so pretty what you've done there! ' "

From 1865 to 1870 Degas exhibited each year at the Paris Salon. He also became friendly with Berthe Morisot (a great woman painter in the Impressionist group) and in the summer of 1869, joined Manet and Morisot in Boulogne and Saint-Valéry-en-Caux where they painted landscapes together. Indeed, of all the artists of the time, it is doubtlessly Manet with whom he had the greatest affinity. They were both older than most of the Impressionist circle and both came from prosperous families. They would meet not only in the cafes but also socially within their family circles.

During the war with Germany in 1870-1871 Degas served in the French army. Though the medical cause is not known, Degas developed problems with his eyes since his time serving in the military. In his late years the artist's eyesight deteriorated more and more until he was unable to create oil paintings and focused his artistic creativity on sculptures. Degas formed his sculptures using wax or clay, his favorite subjects being ballerinas or race horses.

In order to break-away from the state-controlled Paris Salon, Degas and most of his friends, with the exception of Manet, eagerly joined up for the first Impressionist exhibition which was held on 19th April 1874 at a photographic studio on the Rue de l'Opéra, five months after the death of his father. The second and third annual exhibitions were subsequently organised by Durand-Ruel in his gallery on the Rue le Peletier. Degas continued exhibiting with the Impressionists from 1874 until 1886.

His first personal exhibition, which was held at the Durand-Ruel gallery in 1892, drew acclaim from both critics and collegues alike. Degas continued to paint and struggle against his blindness and worked up to about 1912 when, on the advice of his friend Suzanne Valadon, he was forced to leave his apartment in Rue Victor-Massé where he had lived for the past quarter century and move to a more convenient address at 6, Boulevard de Clichy. But it proved to be an ordeal from which he never fully recovered and, despite the huge international success and high prices commanded by his works from 1900 onwards, he became sad, depressed and indifferent to the fame he had achieved. He walked the streets of Paris alone, longing to paint but unable to do so.

He died on September 27th 1917, during wartime, making his death go almost unnoticed by the world - although perhaps a fitting end for the man who had once said "I would like to be famous but unknown"! He was buried in the cemetery of Montmartre. Renoir was to maintain that "Degas painted his best things when he couldn't see any more".

The career of Degas spanned close to six decades and his style, unlike that of most famous artists who worked into their old age, never ceased developing, always seeking out new means of expression and technique. Besides Degas, arguably only Titian and Picasso were able to maintain such a comparably high level of creativity. When Degas had passed away, he left more than 2000 oil paintings and pastels and 150 sculptures. The sculpture models were all cast after his death.