Clearly, the characteristics above would make Degas a modernist. Such characteristics are not common to all of Degas" work, and are most notably absent in some of his early works. However, I found what I think to be good examples of such modernist trends in three of my favorite Degas paintings. In the following I will then discuss how these paintings relate to such trends.
The first painting that struck me with its modernist features is "The Laundress", which he painted between 1884 and 1886, and is now kept at the Musee D"Orsay, Paris. The painting has a totally "snap shot" style. It depicts two women working in a laundry. The first thing that catches your eyes is the contrast between the two women, the first one yawning and the second one pressing clothes. The scene gives us the impression that the women are going to continue with their work. The snap shot is so well studied, and the composition so perfect, that I do not think that it happened accidentally, as Degas would want us to believe. In fact Degas himself said that "nothing is spontaneous". The women" position in the snap shot was carefully chosen and studied to give us feeling of movement. This feeling of movement is also stronger because hidden behind the apparent simplicity of the subject. This is an example of the influence that new photography technology had on Degas. This technology gave Degas a new way of point of view for his creativity. He was obsessed with movements. In "The Laundress", another sign of modernism is the diagonal line of the table. That line seems like it makes our eyes move in circular motion. It reminds me of the style used in Japanese paintings of the Edo period. Bright colors give lively and vivid atmosphere. (I learned from the lectures and a book that working in a laundry was the hardest and most miserable work for women in Paris during that period. In such terrible work environment, in dark and cold basements, the women needed to drink alcohol.