Edgar Degas (known as), Gas Hilaire-Germain Edgar de
(1834-1917)
Après le bain, femme s’essuyant la nuque [After the Bath, Woman Drying her Neck], 1895-1898
Pastel on fine vellum paper glued on card, 62.2 x 65 cm, Paris,
Musée d’Orsay, bequest of Count Isaac de Camondo, 1911
© Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt
This exhibition has been organised by the Musée d’Orsay and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The first major monographic exhibition in Paris devoted to Edgar Degas (1834-1917) since the 1988
retrospective at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, “Degas and the Nude” is part of the Musée
d’Orsay’s aim to show developments in research relating to the great masters of painting in the second
half of the 19
th
century, and follows the tributes paid to Claude Monet and Édouard Manet in 2010 and
2011.
Although some of the recurrent themes in Degas’ work, such as dance, horse racing, genre scenes and
portraits, have been explored and presented in detail, the nude, which nonetheless holds an equally
important place, has never attracted the attention it deserves. Degas in fact constantly represented the
nude throughout his career, returning to certain motifs over and over again, readily repeating poses he
had used several decades previously. Degas’ nudes therefore demonstrate more than any other genre
his technical and stylistic evolution, and in themselves offer a genuine retrospective, helping to explain
why Degas is such an important artist in the history of the 19
th
century avant-garde movements. In his
work on the nude, Degas distils the essential elements of his early classical training and the art of the
great masters of the past whose work he admired and copied while, at the same time, formulating a style
of artistic expression in keeping with his own era, from the Naturalism of the 1870s to his research into
movement and his radical approach to forms at the end of his career. A link between 19
th
century
tradition and the avant-garde movements of the early 20
th
century, he was admired by Bonnard, Matisse
and Picasso during their early careers.
The exhibition is laid out chronologically in seven sections highlighting the sudden changes and
continuities over the course of almost 50 years of artistic activity: first, his early work as a student is
evoked with studies based on classical Antiquity, the great masters and the life model, taking us to his
first historical composition, Petites filles spartiates provoquant des garçons [Young Spartans exercising],
on special loan from the National Gallery in London. Then Scènes de guerre au Moyen Âge [Scene of
War in the Middle Ages], his final attempt at the Academic style in 1865, accompanied by a complete set
of rarely exhibited preparatory drawings, will show how Degas gradually freed himself the constraints of
tradition, and moved towards to Realism, embodied in the celebrated Intérieur [Interior (The Rape)] from
the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The definitive break with the idealisation of the figure then moves on to
a series of monotypes of brothels whose pornographic nature meant that they could not be shown for
many years.
Degas became increasingly interested in representing the women of his day, whom he succeeded in
endowing with great dignity by using innovative techniques ranging from the monotype (a printing
process that does not require engraving) to subtle chiaroscuro and, above all, pastel. In spite of their
fragility and sensitivity to light, the exhibition is fortunate to have two versions of The Tub, the most
prestigious examples of this medium that Degas raised to the highest level of achievement. Finally, an
exploration of all the techniques the artist used, painting, sculpture, charcoal and pastel, will guide the
visitor through Degas’ liberation from Naturalist accuracy, in a search for movement and a simplification
of forms, with the last section devoted to the legacy Degas left the generations of artists that followed
him. A study of how he moved between all his various techniques will highlight the artist’s innovative
temperament and reveal another Degas, one equally fascinating and a key figure in the emergence of
the Modern art movement in Europe. Special attention has been given to placing this polymorphous work
in context, with a limited number of carefully selected works by artists who inspired Degas, who worked
at the same time as him or who were strongly influenced by his work during his lifetime.
Organised with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibition will present a very rich collection of
graphic works from the Musée d’Orsay, seldom shown because of their sensitivity to light, and
exceptional loans from the greatest private and public collections throughout the world, such as those of
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Art Institute of Chicago, the
National Gallery, London and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
