Yale Bulletin and Calendar

January 17, 2003|Volume 31, Number 15|Two-Week Issue

Famous for his depictions of ballet dancers and women doing such commonplace activities as drying their hair, Edgar Degas explored the body in motion throughout his career. This work, "Jockeys," was created between 1881 and 1885.

Exhibit features 'modernist' works by Edgar Degas

Artist Edgar Degas once said of his work: "... up to now nudes have always been shown in poses that assume the presence of the public. But my women are concerned with nothing but their physical occupation. It is as though you were looking through a keyhole."

An exhibition on how Degas' approach exemplified modernism is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery through May 18.

The 20 objects in "Edgar Degas: Defining the Modernist Edge" include paintings, etchings, drawings, and bronze and wax sculptures of such modern -- and sometimes commonplace -- subjects as women bathing or drying their hair, horse racing and ballet dancers. The exhibit was organized by Jennifer Gross, the Seymour H. Knox Jr. Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was one of the most innovative artists of his generation, whose work influenced artists well into the 20th century. "Degas defined the edges of the modern," writes Gross in the catalogue that accompanies the exhibit, "because he worked at the fringe of his society and worked away at the limits of the artificiality and truth-telling of art. The wholeness of his achievement is perpetually startling; its immediacy insistently returns us to the works themselves."

Born in 1834 in Paris into a prosperous banking family, Degas received a classical education at the lycée Louis-le-Grand and enrolled at the Faculty of Law, but spent most of his time in the print room at the Louvre making copies of engravings. The earliest work in the exhibition, a pencil drawing of his sister Marguerite De Gas, is modeled on the Renaissance portraits he would have studied there. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux Arts; the following year he traveled to Italy, staying for three years in Rome. An etching in the exhibition, a self-portrait created in 1857, shows the influence of his close examination of reproductions of Rembrandt's etchings.

"No art was ever less spontaneous than mine," Degas once noted. "What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing. ... Nothing in art should resemble an accident, even movement."

As the works in the Yale exhibition reveal, Degas was a close observer of daily life. His exploration of the body in motion is evident throughout his oeuvre, notes Gross, whether at the racetrack (as in the oil painting "The False Start" or the sculpture "Horse with Jockey"), in the ballet studio (as in the painting "Ballet Rehearsal" and numerous sculptures) or in the many depictions of nude women at their toilette (as in "The Bath"). In his late 50s, Degas added to his favorite themes a series of landscapes, which were exhibited in his first one-man show in 1892. One of these, a monotype and pastel, "Pathway in a Field," is in this exhibition.

The works in "Edgar Degas: Defining the Modernist Edge" were selected primarily from the Yale Art Gallery's wide-ranging holdings of art by the French master. It is supported by an endowment made possible by a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick R. Mayer (B.A. 1950). The accompanying catalogue, which is on sale in the museum store, is made possible by support from the Robert Lehman Foundation.

A number of special activities have been scheduled in conjunction with the exhibit. Gross will present an "Art à la Carte" talk on the show at 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Watch the Yale Bulletin & Calendar for other upcoming events.

The Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (until 8 p.m. on Thursdays), and Sunday, 1-6 p.m. Admission is free for individuals; groups should call (203) 432-8459 for information about fees and to make a reservation. There is an entrance for people using wheelchairs at 201 York St., with an unmetered parking space nearby. For information on access, call (203) 432-0606. For general information, call (203) 432-0600 or visit the gallery's website at www.yale.edu/artgallery.

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