An exhibtion of works by French impressionist Edgar Degas opens today at the Patty & Jay Baker Naples Museum of Art. It's entitled Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, and comprises 90 rare works that include 20 drawings as well as prints, photographs, etchings, monotypes, a sculpture and a letter.
All of the works come from the private collection of Robert Flynn Johnson. Organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, California in association with Denenberg Fine Arts of West Hollywood, California, this exhibition represents the first time the works in this private collection have been exhibited publicly.
Ironically, while he was sympathetic to the concerns and objectives of Impressionist painters such as Monet and Renoir, Degas did not consider himself to be an Impressionist himself. Degas' main focus was not on light and color, but movement, design and draughtmanship. That's why many of his compositions included ballerinas and race horses. Both allowed him to explore the ways in which both human and equestrian bodies could be modelled to suggest movement, time and space. In that respect, his work is more closely aligned with the sculpture of Rodin and the paintings of American James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
Nonetheless, art historians typically group Degas with the Impressionists, and given posterity's love affair with the movement, it's unlikely Degas would resist the appellation.
Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist offers an insightful glimpse into the life and work of this intriguing 19th-century French master. The subject matter includes three self-portraits, depictions of Degas’ father and brother, and two portraits of Mary Cassatt. The exhibition also includes a select group of 17 works on paper by artists in Degas' circle, including Cassatt, Paul Cézanne and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
The exhibit will remain on display through Sunday, January 15, 2012.
There is also a related lecture on October 25 entitled: Chasing Degas: Reflections of a Collector in Pursuit of This Elusive Master Over Four Decades.
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