I previously read the Monet edition and really enjoyed it. This time the art is absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately the text/plot wasn't as good and due to not enough evidence available regarding Degas and Cassat's private life.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fabulous book!
🌷We get to know about the life of the famous Degas. Truth be told, even if we all are intrigued by the lives of the great masters, how often is it that we pick up the biographies and read them? We simply don't. Most of us, anyway. And hence, this graphic novel makes it so much more accessible! Love it for that!
🌷The artist is no less a master in my opinion. They really brought to life Impressionism and it was visible in the strokes of Efa. I was thrown in for a visual treat and I am not going to be forgetting it anytime soon!

Edgar Degas was the driving force behind the creation of the Impressionist art movement as a rejection of the strict restrictions placed upon all artists of the time by the Salon. He found companionship in fellow artist Mary Cassatt but while in love with her, could never separate himself from the art world to forge a relationship between them, or even to tell her.

'Degas and Cassatt' follows the life of Edgar Degas using the beautiful pastel art of Efa to evoke emotion and feeling throughout. The use of colour is perfect, matching the tense dynamic of the artists working to form the Society through to the light, magical tone of Parisian society.

The focus of the text is centred on the non-fiction side, the emphasis being on getting the facts across more so than aiming to tell a captivating story. As such, the artwork and the writing pair well to balance the tone of this graphic novel.

This graphic novel of Degas is beautifully created. If you’re a fan of his art, then you’ll love the illustrations in the book as the mirror Degas’s style to tell his story alongside Cassatt.

This is not a mere computergenereated comic, it is a beautiful drawn graphic novel about the life and and of Edward Degas. A mus read for everyone who adores wellmade graphic novels and anyone who is interested in the art of paining. I loved reading this fantastic book.

This graphic novel by Salva Rubio took me by surprise. The cover is beautiful, and I believed I was opening a book to discover the work of Edward Degas and Mary Cassatt. However, inside of the book there are no photographs of the work these artists painted. Instead, you are met with a graphic novel that begins quite well.

The graphic novel’s art, by Efa, is nicely done and the story is engaging, explaining the troubled and lonely mind of a very famous artist that most of us know by name.

What really threw me for a looped is the adult nature of the graphic novel. I wish there was a warning somewhere and or within the beginning of it. I have many art students that would be very interested in a graphic novel about one of their favorite artists, but there is graphic nudity in this novel that is very unexpected.

If I were a parent picking up this novel or had a child interested in this novel and didn’t give it a thorough reading to the end, I would be dismayed to find that all of the graphic nudity existed.

For that reason, I’m going to rate this down to three stars, because I believe it could be made better known to someone that this is truly and “Adult” graphic novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing a free copy of this graphic novel for my honest opinion.

I will not be finishing this book, although I thought I would be very interested in these two Impressionist artists. It is not at all what I was expecting.

This book focuses on the life of one of the famous personality from the world of painters, Edgar Degas. He had a pretty unique personality as compared to the normal painters and his paintings. His paintings were focused on dancers as he captured their grace and power in those.
This book even has a section dedicated to the the relationship of Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt. The reality is kept alive by the beautiful illustrations yet the narrator of this book is Mary Cassatt, herself. The author has definitely captured in the reflection of reality and in a very beautiful manner.
It's a perfect pick for biography lovers.

Degas and Cassatt by writer Salva Rubio and artist Efa tells the life story of painters Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt during the 19th century with a focus on their relationship with each other as they strive to become great artists.

I knew a bit about these artists before reading since I studied both of them in my art classes in my earlier years of college, though I only learned about their work, not much about them which is why this book interested me.

One thing this graphic novel did very well was tell their lives as close as possible to how they truly lived. I compared the story with articles and found that most of their actual life story was told accurately in this novel, though the main difference between the articles and this novel is this novel is set in the first person pov so we get a more intimate look at Degas and Cassatt.

We are introduced first to Degas, a young and eager artist with an arrogance about him. He is not likable at all and hardly has any redeeming quality (he hates children, dogs, etc.) His personality made it difficult to read this story. Degas’s life goal is to become as good as the master artists, or even better than them. On his journey he meets many other artists, artists like Mary Cassatt.

Mary Cassatt is the best, most likable character. She’s sweet, kind and passionate about her work. She’s also a strong woman and unafraid to tell Degas off when he begins to berate women (this happens constantly unfortunately).

Mary is the only person who truly sees some type of good in Degas yet he constantly hurts her and others. I think he does this to prevent getting hurt by anyone.

Although Degas’s character is detestable he is also very human. Afraid of what others think of him and yearning for love, the love his family never really showed him. He can be good but he doesn’t want others to see that side of him. I assume it may be seen as weakness in his eyes or something like that. Many of Degas’s personality issues come from the era he grew up in. He is a product of his time, a very sexist and egoistic time where men believed women were the devil and only good for one thing.

As an artist I enjoyed the book for what it is, a more intimate first person look at the lives and relationship between Degas and Cassatt.

Though as a curious reader who knows nothing of the two you may find Degas very infuriating while reading.

I studied art history, so i'm familiar with Degas' work, though I knew almost nothing about his personal life. This comic takes a look at a man who by all accounts seems like a loner and a difficult person to be friends with, yet who made such beautiful works of art that most people know his name. Degas is best known for his depictions of ballerinas and while he may not have like it, is often associated with the Impressionist art movement. The biggest surprise for me was how close he was to Cassatt (she and Berthe Morisot who also makes an appearance are some of my favorite artists), and how much their professional and personal lives intertwined. Degas is not a very likable man, but he was a passionate one, and this biographical story does a lot of good in showing who he was as a person and how his relationship with Cassatt affected that. Beyond the story, I LOVED the art style, it was so reminiscent of Impressionist artists, and the color scheme often reflected what I remember of Degas' works. Overall, an interesting look at the life of an artist (two if we count Cassatt and we probably should) at a time when art was drastically changing.

The style of this graphic novel was really beautiful! The art works well with the story and transports you back in time to go through the life of Degas. The story itself was informative and interesting, and the structure of the story boxes and dialogue bubbles made it easy to follow and enjoy the emotion behind the words. Beautiful art, beautiful story. Highly recommend reading in a printed format as the font was slightly difficult to read in digital format on the Netgalley app.

The art in this graphic novel is beautiful and fitting the style Edward Degas. It begins with Degas who wants to paint but his father expects him to use his education and dabble in art on the side. It continues chronologically as he tries to break from the classic styles of the salon system and joins but never feels he belongs with the Impressionists. The book is informational when mentioning the Impressionist and their exhibitions. The story continues on through his life and includes his friendship with Mary Cassatt. And the later part is her reflections back on his life.

Degas was a painstaking artist that didn't like Impressionist style of Monet and others who worked quickly outdoors. He also had a long list of things he didn't like including women and jews. None of this was explained or elaborated on in the novel and sent me to wikipedia for more information. I did like that I recognized many of his works throughout the story. But the written part was weaker. I shouldn't have had to check outside sources to understand a panels where he and Cassatt were working on a project together. And I don't mind nudity in art but found the ending section odd and out of place wondering how it fit the story being told. It felt gratuitous.

This graphic novel is for geared for adults. I did learn some new things about Degas but it all felt very subjective more than informative. Thank you NetGalley and European Comics for a temporary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Visually, this worked a lot more than it did text-wise. For it's quite the lumpen, wordy and dull account of Degas's days as a struggling artist, then in the company of the American painter and dealer Mary Cassatt. The style is fine, however – when her voice-over comes into play she tells us all he has boasted of intending to make as sets of works, and we see examples of them as if from his hands, only to be told he finished no such works at all; many are the frames that clearly reference classics of the time, and those that aren't look as if they could do; we see him advise as to the "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" piece. So it's up to the nearly drama-free, episodic narrative to try and bring to life the spirit of the times, with Degas footling around with the "Bohemian" artists his father detested, and breaking away from the tradition of the shows at the Salon that entranced Manet with ideas of prizes, medals and fame, instead of showing and selling on one's own terms.

The book on Monet elsewhere in this ad hoc series – https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2202666044 – was a lot more successful, and this really manages to underplay much to its detriment how it's showing the birth of the Impressionist movement from an angle not known to the general browser. Yes, there are intrigues about the man's character, especially up against Cassatt, but while this is admirable in its look, and of note to any number of art historians, it's too easy to imagine a telling of the story that lifts itself off the page in much less ungainly a fashion.

I am not typically a big graphic novel reader, but I was intrigued by the concept and was hooked once I started reading this lovely, beautifully illustrated book.

I enjoyed the flow of the book, it was both informative and entertaining, and I think the illustrations are top notch. A very enjoyable reading experience. Highly recommended !!

4 stars

Absolutely fantastic art & storytelling! This is a biography of Edgar Degas, told through the lens of his long friendship with Mary Cassatt, with subtlety & heart.

[What I liked:]

•The story does a great job of capturing the contradictions of Degas’ personality, making it clear how eccentric & prickly he was without turning him into a totally unlikeable caricature.

•The story also does a great job of contextualizing Degas’ art & philosophy in the times he lived through, his relationships with Cassatt & Manet, & his relationship/rivalry with both the salon & the impressionists.

•The art is absolutely fantastic! The colors & lines capture the feeling of Degas & Cassatt’s works in pastels, & the emotion the art lends to the story is integral.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The font for the lettering was difficult for me to read smoothly. It’s definitely legible, it just took extra concentration for me to read it.

CW: sexism, nudity, terminal illness

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The art is so beautiful and the story so interesting! I need to get my hands on a physical copy. One of my favourites, undoubtedly.

Degas and Cassatt (2021) by Salva Rubio and Efa is a historic graphic novel, told from the perspective of Edgar Degas’s friend and contemporary, Mary Cassatt. The book is broken into several sections and is told mostly in chronological order, beginning from when Degas was a young man and continuing past Degas’s death. I note that it is mostly in chronological order because the book is framed by Cassatt as an old woman, reflecting upon Degas, not quite sequential…

My first note was the art. In a graphic novel about artists, art is definitely a focus and a feature. But Efa designed the book beautifully. It looks like each panel was painted and it rendered a feeling for the era’s art – at least, to me, who is not a skilled art scholar. The characters were all pleasant to look at though, and the paint gives the characters texture, in a way that graphic design does not always. Another book with art that looks painted, that visually stunned me (though the styles are very different) was Koko, Be Good by Jen Wang. So this was, quite frankly, my favorite feature of the book.

Something I struggled with, especially because it was an ebook I read on my phone, was the font. It is a stylized font that slants to the right and I had trouble reading it. This was most noteworthy when the narrative mentioned both Monet and Manet – I had to reread speech bubbles to confirm, through context, which artist they were talking about. I think of my eyes as pretty good, so I was surprised by how hard I sometimes found it to differentiate the similar names/words. This is probably my least favorite feature of the novel – sorry.

My next note is about historical narratives broadly, but also this one particularly. Like many historical narratives, it is a bit arbitrary. Hayden White, a scholar I read about in college, notes that history is narrative, that essentially we do not know unbiased history because every book, every story, chooses a starting and ending point, chooses details to include and exclude, and chooses the way in which these events are ordered. In Degas and Cassatt, the arbitrariness feels purposeful to depict arbitrary and capricious people. Still, the narrative mentions more than once that Degas was an anti-Semite (the beginning and the end) and while I don’t believe in publishing what he may have said, I think the narrative’s middle depicts the tortured artist and the narrative bookends that with descriptions of his anger, his flaws, his quirks – he dislikes dogs, flowers, women and Jewish people… What does it mean to list these together? What does it mean to introduce this and then drop it, to instead focus on Degas’s passion for art, his tentativeness, his contemporaries, his audience, his critical reception and then, again, those flaws. Perhaps the second mention of these flaws is a reminder to the reader? I’m unsure of my feelings on this.

I have a problem with the construct of the tortured artist. The comedy special Nanette by Hannah Gadsby points out that the reason for good art is not pain and suffering, but rather the supportive people that enabled the artist to create in spite of poverty, mental health struggles, etc. Focusing on the relationship between Degas and Cassatt emphasizes that support and possibility, but it also depicts the breakdown, the loss of that support, or the ways in which disrespect can damage one’s creative potential. It is realistic, but the ending is one full of yearning and lost possibility – could one person have changed another? Could they have stayed together? Could Degas have become not a misogynist, not an anti-Semite, etc.? Is that realistic to history? Perhaps not, but strangely we do not look for history in historical fiction.

Overall, I think this book was a solid three out of five. I think that if you liked this, you would like other historical graphic novels. Maybe Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel? (This is a book collection of comics set in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Not necessarily historical, but it discusses political moments and their impacts on queer people. Narratively, very different. Art-wise, very different. But they are both movement focused and, I don’t know, there’s a vibe to them both.) Graphic novels are one of those things that I read voraciously and so I do think it’s worth a read for those who are interested in graphic novels, history, art and general yearning. What can I say? That’s the impression I get.

As an artist and a fan of Degas' work, I was instantly intrigued by this graphic novel. Firstly the art style is beautiful and I have to admit I loved the illustrations more than the overall story. Rubio has created such a wholesome and heartwarming story and combined with Efa's artwork, Degas and Cassatt is possibly the best graphic novel I've read. It's such a beautiful way of showcasing the life of amazing artists and I feel like everyone who has ever admired Degas' work needs to read this!! I wish I had more words to say but I'm honestly speechless, as with most graphic novels, Degas and Cassatt was a quick read however, I found myself lingering on each page well after I had finished reading just to take in the illustrations and beauty.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Degas and Cassatt by Salva Rubio and Efa is a delightful adult graphic novel about Edgar Degas, the founder of the impressionist movement. According to the synopsis, Degas was "one of the most merciless critics, too bohemian for the bourgeois and too bourgeois for the artists." This graphic novel promises to look into Degas's relationships and give us a peek into a famous man's private life.

Overall, Degas and Cassatt exceeded my expectations. I was worried that the beautiful cover would not match the artwork inside. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the art on the inside is also drawn in an impressionist style, which is very eye-catching and nice to look at. I did take off 2 stars, because of 2 scenes of nude women near the end of the book, which felt unnecessary to me. The book would have been fine without them. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels about artists, you can check out this book, which is available now!