Famous as he is for his ballet dancers, Degas needs no further introduction, but taken in its entirety his work contains more than the colorful tulle-clad female figures. Degas? approach to art is highly individual, ambitious and consistent. Through his practice and involvement in the Impressionist movement, Degas altered both the political and aesthetic premises for painting. Degas placed himself as the latest in a line of great masters, consciously working and thinking in ways which made him the heir to?and successor to the throne of?the truly great art which endures beyond its own era. He was a master of both tradition and progress?and this is why his oeuvre occupies an enormously important position in the narrative of the painting of our own time. Rather than a desire to bring to light a ?complete? account of the artist?s oeuvre, Degas? Methode is an extensive retrospective that stages and presents the synergy that exists between the works.