Friday, February 5, 1999
Impressionable images
ART: Many recognize Edgar Degas’ familiar paintings of
ballerinas
and race horses, but The J. Paul Getty Museum presents
another side of the artist in ‘Edgar Degas, Photographer’
By Trinh Bui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Edgar Degas’ gift to the arts came on canvas occupied by
ballerinas and racehorses. The French Impressionist, who refused
the moniker, mesmerized art patrons with his expressive body
positions, awkward angles and vibrant colors. Degas built his
public reputation with the brush, but in his personal life, it
might have been the camera that captured his imagination.
"Edgar Degas, Photographer," exhibition at the J. Paul Getty
Museum showcases rarely seen photographs taken by the artist during
his twilight years. The stills display private moments in Degas’
life. Most of the photographs are portraits of his extended family
the Halevys and focuses on using darkness and a single source of
light.
"The idea for ‘Degas the photo’ geminated 30 years ago, when I
saw copies of Degas photographs during the summer of 1969 at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art," says Weston Naef, museum curator of
photographs. "Degas is a unique case in the history of photography
because of his great notoriety to almost everyone who visits art
museums of his paintings, sculptures and works on paper. However,
his photographs are virtually unknown, even to experts in the
field. So it was a thrill for (The Getty) to present something that
was so unfamiliar to such a large number of people, even though the
body of work is very small."
Degas began his excursion into photographs in 1861. The
mid-1890s saw Degas capture many scenes of after-party gatherings,
landscapes and especially portraits in a five-year span. For his
effort, only 50 identifiable pictures by Degas survive today.
Unlike his paintings and sculptures, photographs were strictly
meant for his own personal pleasure.
"Even when he was making (photographs), it was a private art,"
says Malcolm Daniel, assistant curator of photography for the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "It was something he made with and
shared with friends and family. He never exhibited the photographs.
Therefore, they were never seen by a large audience or written
about in the art press."
Why Degas even began photographing remains a mystery. Some
experts believe his deteriorating eyesight contributed to his
dabbling with the camera. It became increasingly difficult for
Degas to see the minute details in a pose to paint. Others point to
Degas’ grief over his sister’s illness, leading him to express his
anguish through the lens. The latter seems to ring truer in the
exhibit.
Degas’ portraits of Daniel and Louise Halevy, with its use of
photographic dead space accentuating the darkness, reflects his
concern for the power of expression and the harmony between light
and flesh.
"There is a psychological sense to the pictures," Daniel says,
referring to the portraits. "There is a sense of melancholy, a
sense of fragility with how the hand breaks out from the
darkness."
The photos on display are a far cry from Degas’ more famous
paintings. Absent from his photography are the dancers that typify
Degas. Instead, his photographs concentrate around social
after-parties, people posing about furniture and portraits of
friends. More hodgepodge and family album-esque than actual exhibit
quality, the photos lend insight into Degas’ thinking.
Though Degas did not photograph until later in life, his
paintings have a definite photo-quality to them. Degas applied many
of the techniques found in photography into his paintings.
"After the Bath, Woman Drying Her Back" shares the same elements
as Degas’ paintings. The contorted body, the emphasis on contours
and lines, and Degas’ unique cropping of the print remind anyone
who looks upon it to recall a Degas tub painting.
"Degas seriously looked at photography in the 1860s, and he
became very interested in the photographic image," Naef says. "His
paintings look like photographs early in his career. Degas clearly
absorbed a lot from photography."
EXHIBIT: "Edgar Degas, Photographer" runs at the J. Paul Getty
Museum through March 28. For more information, call (310)
440-7300.J. Paul Getty Museum
"Daniel Halevy" is one of many portraits displayed in the "Edgar
Degas, Photographer" exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Edgar Degas’ "After the Bath, Woman Drying Her Back"
represents a photograph influenced by his painting style.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]