Degas paintings, especially those painted during his youth, were pictorial of his increasing fondness for abstraction of form. As a skilled draftsman, Degas was obsessed with human forms and the work painted during the later years of his life bear very little resemblance to his early work. However, it's ironic that these very paintings, those painted towards the end of life, employ the Impressionism techniques in use of color and form.

Degas is famous for his horses and Ballet dancers. Yet, he only started to experiment with the human form only during the mid of his career. One of his most famous early works is 'The Bellelli Family' (1859), a picture that portrays his aunt and her family with great detail.

The late 1860s saw Degas' focus shifted from history paintings to contemporary life around him. He began painting horses, racecourse scenes, women at work, and, of course, dancers. Degas also began painting café life, and urged many other painters to paint the 'real life' rather than historical/mythological subjects.

A change in subjects witnessed Degas change his technique too. Degas paintings became more vivid with bright colors and the brushstrokes were much bolder. One such example, 'Place de la Concorde', is a fine piece of work especially as it imparted a sense of movement in still life. The painter's mature style of painting is also distinguishable by the noticeably incomplete passages, in otherwise completed renderings. Degas blamed this on his poor eyesight, and this explanation met with intense skepticism from his colleagues and critics.

Degas' interest in painting real life led him to study the ways in which a person conducted himself in thesociety and he carefully observed his subjects postures, dresses, countenance, and other personality attributes. By the end of 1870s, Degas paintings became proof of his mastery over mediums such as oil on canvas and pastels. His work on dry medium by application of multiple layers and textures empowered him to express his thoughts with bright and bold colors, which is admirable.

Mid 1870s was also the time when Degas revisited etching and his experiments using lithographs began soon after. His growing interest in etching led to the demise of details in his paintings. Yet, with all the stylistic evolution, particular features of Degas paintings remained the same throughout his entire life.