A framed painting by Edgar Degas entitled "The False Start".

Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 to 27 September 1917) was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. His style reflects his deep respect for the old masters and his great admiration for Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and Eugene Delacroix. He was also a collector of Japanese prints, whose compositional principles influenced his work, as did the vigorous realism of popular illustrators such as Daumier and Gavarni. Although famous for horses and dancers, Degas began with conventional historical paintings.