Though he preferred to be called a realist, Edgar Degas (1834–1917) was one of the founders of impressionism, an organizer of the group's exhibitions, and one of its most important core members. He shared with the impressionists an interest in modern life—in Paris' dance halls and cabarets, its racetracks, its opera and ballet stages. But his work was deliberate and controlled, painted in the studio from sketches, notes, and memory. In racehorses and ballet dancers he found the kind of movement that fascinated him most: not free and spontaneous, but precise and disciplined.