A dedicated Realist, Degas painted the world around him: modern life in Paris - a backstage world of ballet dancers, singers in the cafe concerts, brothels, horse racing events, shopgirls and laundresses - as experienced by someone of his class. He depicted his subjects with a curious detachment, using his art to reveal the modern beauty and ruthlessly repeated the same themes in his pursuit of translating sight into intense works of art. This book follows his development from a young well-bred Parisian from classically trained social elite to the visually impaired recluse that he became in his last years.