The Final Day Of Degas

I went to the Denver Art Museum (the DAM) to see Degas:  A Passion for Perfection this past Sunday, which was the final day of the exhibit.  It was crowded, but since groups were only allowed in in 15 minute intervals, it was still a comfortable atmosphere in which to see the paintings.  The exhibit started with his early work, mostly landscapes and portraits, and traced the progression of his art through his lifetime.

Basically, Degas was most interested in painting 3 subjects: ballerinas, horses, and bathing female nudes, and there were plenty of all three on display. Although Degas exhibited his work with the impressionists, he did not consider himself one.  He liked to experiment with a variety of styles, and constantly carried notebooks in which he would sketch ideas for new paintings.  The show was presented and organized in conjunction with the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, England, whose Degas collection is the largest in the United Kingdom.  The Denver Art Museum, by the way, was the only American venue for this exhibit, no doubt because the museum must have had incriminating photographs as a bargaining card.

What surprised me most about the exhibit was that taking photographs of the artwork was allowed.  Most of the time, if you try to take a photograph in one of these special exhibits, the staff swoops down on you and puts you in a holding cell in the basement for a couple of years.  Not this time - I was able to take as many photos as I wanted, which I did, since my sister Susan, who really wanted to see this show, could not attend, and so I wanted to take photographs of the more famous works to show her later on, such as the two in the diptych above.  Taking photographs without getting yelled at - what a concept!