Degas: Where Lines and Dots Come from Memories
埃德加·德加(Edgar Degas)(1834–1917)，印象派画家、雕塑家。虽然德加被归为印象派，但他本人更愿意视自己为写实主义。印象派的精髓在于捕捉瞬间的颜色和光影，因而要求短时绘画的能力。但德加通常会在经过无数次观察后，记录笔记，而后凭借记忆作画。
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) is known as an impressionist painter and sculptor. Although Degas is classified as an impressionist, he prefers to regard himself as realism. The essence of impressionism is to capture the color and light of every moment, and it requires the ability to paint in a fairly short time. But Degas’s approach is to take notes after countless observations and then connect the dots based on memory.
芭蕾舞女是德加十分喜爱的题材，他绘制过多幅以此为主题的画作，《芭蕾课》是最为著名的一幅。画中，老师正在指导画面中央的芭蕾舞者，其他的学员则在一旁休息，有的在调整服装，有的在窃窃私语，有的在发呆，有的在挠痒，有的在咬指甲……画面是如此的真实自然，仿佛德加便是舞室中的一员，亲眼看到了这样的场景。但事实上，画面中的一切都是他凭借笔记和记忆安排出来的。也正是因为他高超的创造力，布局力，对线条和构图空间的自如运用，使得他跻身艺术大师中的一员。
Ballerina is one of many subjects that Degas is very fond of. He has painted many paintings on this theme, and “The Ballet Class” is the most famous one. In the painting, the teacher is instructing the ballet dancer in the center of the picture, while other students are resting aside, some are adjusting their costumes, some are whispering, some are in a daze, some are tickling, some are biting their nails… the picture is so real and natural as if Degas was a member of the dance room and saw this scene with his own eyes. But in fact, everything in the picture was arranged by him with notes and memories. It is precise because of his superb creativity, layout ability, and free use of lines and compositional space that make him become one of the greatest artists.
可叹的是，自1880年代起，德加的视力开始衰退，他也因此转向雕塑、蜡笔画等对视力要求不高的艺术创作。
What’s sad is that since the 1880s, Degas’s eyesight began to decline, so he turned to sculptures, crayon drawings, and other artistic creations that did not require high eyesight.
