Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas, long known for his formally innovative, "slice-of-life" views of nineteenth-century Parisian life, is today recognized as an artist whose commitment to recording the contemporary world led him to challenge conventional stereotypes in art and to confront many of the social tensions of his time. Norma Broude, Professor of Art History at The American University and a pioneer in the feminist reassessment of Degas's images, explores the French artist's unusual presentations of men as well as women, as both grappled with the challenges and uncertainties of shifting gender roles and life-styles in the modern world.