Today is the birthday of the artist Edgar Degas. As a draughtsman he matches up with anyone, from any era. His work displays such mastery that you can't help but conclude that the man was born to draw and paint. But that belies the years Degas spent painstakingly studying the paintings and drawings of those who came before him, especially Ingres, his great inspiration. Degas himself said that "no art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and of the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing." Considered a founder of impressionism, he called himself "a realist" and expressed relentless disdain for painters who worked outdoors. Degas mastered every medium he tackled: drawing, painting, pastels, prints, monotype, sculpture, and photography. Degas believed that "the artist must live alone, and his private life must remain unknown," and he followed that credo. He cultivated a reputation as a misogynistic curmudgeon (although he was an advocate for women artists like Mary Cassat, who is the figure in the painting above) and held deeply conservative beliefs all his life. He hated Protestants and was a vicious anti-Semite. One of the great perks of the two years I recently spent in New York City was the ability to visit the Met whenever the spirit moved me and spend a few hours in the three or four galleries devoted primarily to Degas. Thrilling.