Left: The Plum - Edouard Manet; Right: In a Cafe (The Absinthe Drinker) - Edgar Degas
A compelling art exhibit opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art running from September 24, 2023 - January 7, 2024. The show brings together 2 huge French impressionist artists who in life were friends, rivals, and sometimes foes: Èdouard Manet (1832 - 1883) and Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917) were nearly the same age.
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| Racehorses Before the Stands - Edgar Degas |
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| The Races at Longchamp - Edouard Manet |
While the Met always has works of these two contemporaries on view from its own collection, this exhibition gathers 160 of their paintings and works on paper, including masterpieces from around the world, to show the two colossi fathers of modern French painters, side by side, illustrating how their careers crossed and diverged.
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| Olumpia - Edouard Manet |
If you find yourself in Manhattan, be sure to visit the Manet/Degas exhibit. Seeing 160 pieces from 150 institutions and private collectors all in one place is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not to be missed!
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| Edouard Manet & his wife, Suzanne playing the piano - painted by Edgar Degas as a gift, Manet hated the painting and caused a rift with his friend by slashing it. |
I've not gone myself yet, but will soon! Meanwhile, here's a write-up with more of the beautiful exhibition paintings in The New York Times. When I see it, I'll surely spot favorites!
Years ago as a Congressional intern (in the US Senate), I fell in love with an Edouard Manet painting hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and frequently went to look at it. Right before I left town, I bought the poster, had it framed in New York, and it has been hanging in my living room ever since. I never get tired of looking at it. Click here for a peek. I love Manet's realism and harsh contrasts of light and shadows and Degas' brightness, lightness, and shimmer of color.
Do you have a favorite?
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