Art History Guide

In the 1870s, Edgar Degas started going blind, and like any artist going blind, he switched to pastels. This way, he developed an original style, coloring while drawing, using the medium for finished works instead of sketches for the first time. And as his eyes weakened, his compositions became more simple and his colors more intense. As my eyes weaken, I just blink more.

Degas also went into sculpture, calling it the blind man’s art. He felt around, modeling wax figures of horses and dancers. After his death, his sculptures were cast into bronze.