A new exhibit at The Society of the Four Arts offers a fresh look at the life and work of pioneering impressionist Edgar Degas.
On display at the Esther B. O’Keeffe building, “Edgar Degas, The Private Impressionist: Works on Paper from the Artist & His Circle” runs through Feb. 1 and features more than 40 works by the French artist famed for his mastery of prints, paintings and sculpture.
But the collection from curator and author Robert Flynn Johnson does not solely focus on Degas’ familiar paintings or pastel-based work depicting ballet dancers and female nudes. Instead, the collection features 24 drawings, 21 prints, eight photographs, three monotypes, a sculpture, and even a printing plate used by Degas.
The artist’s work is accompanied by more than 40 works from Degas contemporaries, many of whom were friends with the French impressionist, including Pierre-Georges Jeanniot, Giovanni Baldini, Mary Cassat and Paul Cezanne. The exhibit, which has traveled before, opened Nov. 15.
For Johnson, what set Degas apart among the early impressionists was his proficiency with multiple media and the unusual subject matter he chose to capture in his works.
“It’s not his painting style that sets him apart, but his ability to concentrate and focus on the human condition in his art,” said Johnson, curator emeritus of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “For a man who had a reputation as a gruff misanthrope, his portraits and depictions of weary ballerinas are deeply felt.”
Rising to fame during the late 19th century, Degas is known for his ability to capture a subject’s emotional state, depicted through the artist’s subtle gazes and somber expressions.
Johnson told the Palm Beach Daily News he hopes the exhibition will not only present the artist’s work to a new audience, but “illuminate the man, his personality and the era he lived in.”
Unlike many artists of his era, Degas refused to accept commissions for portraits. Instead, he painted portraits of friends and family, Johnson noted.
For example, the exhibition includes three portraits of Degas’ longtime friend and colleagueartist Édouard Manet, as well as a portrait of Degas’ father and of his younger brother Achilles. The latter is the earliest known dated drawing by the Degas. The collection also includes three rarely seen self-portraits.
Also on display are eight 1890s-era photographs by Degas. While the artist might not be well known for his photographic accomplishments, it was a medium he’d become obsessed with around the turn of the century, Johnson said.
But visitors to the exhibition also will see works depicting Degas’ traditional subjects of horse-riding and ballet in the drawings and prints on display. They include “Before the Race,” an 1895 lithograph by Degas and Auguste Clot that depicts jockeys in brightly colored togs riding horses on a tranquil green field.
Among the other artists’ work on display are two of Jeanniot’s rare portraits of Degas, which are noteworthy because the artist was reluctant to pose for paintings, according to statement about the exhibition released by the Four Arts.
Exhibition hours are 1-5 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Tuesday’s morning hours will be reserved for Four Art’s members starting January.
General admission is $10 and free for Four Arts members. Free admission is also granted to active-duty military personnel and up to three of their guests, and for SNAP/EBT card holders with Photo ID and up to three guests.
For more information visit FourArts.org or call 561-655-7226.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Four Arts’ exhibition offers a fresh take on French Impressionist painter Edgar Degas
Reporting by Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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