Edgar Degas was a reluctant yet important member of the Impressionist movement known for his depictions of ballerinas. Like his peer Édouard Manet, Degas was resistant to align himself with other members of the group, as his refined drawing style set him apart from the others. “A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy,” he once remarked. “When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.” Born on July 19, 1834 in Paris, France, he studied under Louis Lamothe—a former pupil of the Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominque Ingres—at the École des Beaux-Arts. Steeped in academic techniques, his early works often featured motifs based in antiquity...