Edgar Degas: Picturing Movement

Despite the popularity of his work, Edgar Degas (1834-1917) has remained one of the most elusive of the Impressionists. Always a very private man, to his contemporaries he seemed rather aloof, self-absorbed and inclined to cynicism. However, few could fault his skill as an artist, and his acute vision, mastery of design, and meticulous attention to detail single him out as one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century art.

Degas' preoccupation with movement is the focus of Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement - the exhibition, which opens this week at The Royal Academy - traces the development of the artist's ballet imagery throughout his career, from the documentary mode of the early 1870s to the sensuous expressiveness of his final years.

Read what David Hepworth had to say about the exhibition here