Au bord de la mer 1869

Edgar Degas created this pastel drawing "Au bord de la mer." The hazy composition immediately conveys a sense of spatial ambiguity, it is hard to tell where the beach ends and the water begins. Degas uses horizontal bands of muted colors —browns, blues, and grays— to structure the landscape into simple blocks. The application of pastel blurs the edges, flattening the perspectival depth. What's fascinating here is how Degas uses the medium to challenge traditional landscape painting. The lack of distinct forms destabilizes the conventional relationship between foreground and background. This evokes a feeling of being lost in an expansive, indefinite space. Notice how the formal qualities of the artwork subvert expectations, leading us to question our perception of space and representation. Art doesn't have a singular, unchanging meaning but is a site of ongoing interpretation and re-interpretation.