A brief biography of Edgar Degas, discussing his works and painting style.

Paul Cézanne was highly revered by not just his contemporaries (although this took some time to materialize), but also the 20th- and 21st-century artists that were to follow him. Perhaps this is because his paintings and great works were universal and easy to interpret, with monumental great landscapes, still life, and portraitures, or perhaps it is because he brought something fresh, exciting, and new. Described as the "Father of Modernism," Cezanne's...

Monet is familiar to millions of people the world over. His works are much loved and admired so it's almost inconceivable to imagine that at the time he produced his first works, Monet enraged critics and the public alike.At times, the light Monet achieved in his paintings was almost the subject itself. The light enhanced the works and gave Monet's paintings a photographic quality, despite the "impression" of the subject of the piece. It was these...

Salvador Dali, the Spanish Surrealist painter was a highly-skilled draughtsman made famous by his striking and bizarre images. His most popular work, The Persistence of Memory, (1931) led him to critical acclaim, however, he was also well-known for his work in sculpture, photography, fashion, film and books. He was an eccentric artist whom was often known for his attention-seeking antics as he was for his work. Besides his 1931 The Persistence of...

Gauguin was instrumental in a fundamental move toward a modernism, not seen in art since the Impressionists themselves took shape. He believed in Cézanne's geometric and Bernard's Cloisonnism, but he also believed in himself, his own abilities and the potential he had to become a great artist. Gauguin was unafraid to push the boundaries of art history with a move away from the traditional, into a world of daring, insight and paintings which could...

Van Gogh remains the ultimate example of the tortured artistic genius. His entire life was a struggle against poverty and mental disorders. But the hundreds of canvases that he painted prior to his death are today recognized as unequaled masterpieces.

Profoundly influenced by the Renaissance painters, Hilaire Degas pioneered precision of line and the use of the human form in space within the Impressionist school. A Paris-born pupil of Ingres, Degas produced such masterpieces as Rehearsal of the Ballet and The Cotton Exchange. This unique study of his life and times includes delightful new footage of the Royal Ballet, Birmingham, England.

In his landscape and still-life paintings, Cezanne developed a revolutionary new approach to color and perspective. His influence on 20th century artists was so great that he is now referred to as the Father of Modern Painting.

Paul Gauguin was 35 when he abandoned his successful career as a Paris stockbroker to devote himself full-time to painting. Though his years as a painter in France, and later in Tahiti, were dominated by poverty and obscurity, his bold use of flat color eventually came to be seen as the work of a post-impressionist master.

Henri Toulouse-Latrec was ultimately a tragic figure in the history of art. Crippled by an ill-proportioned body, he lived for just thirty-six years before the effects of alcoholism and syphilis took their final toll.