Two paintings from Edgar Degas have still, 150 years later, defied all attempts to resolve their narratives. Another from Britain, and one from the American Eastman Johnson.
Degas
Never shown to the public in traditional paintings, a vital layer which goes between paint and the support. White, colour, chalk or oil.
Good for watercolour and pastels alone? Paper and cardboard have also been used extensively for oil sketches, and more.
Met other Nabis when in Paris in 1888, but followed his own realist style. Excellent pastellist who retained good levels of chroma, and his paintings never lost depth.
Developed in the mid 1600s, pastels are often considered to be the ‘purest’ form of painting, in which pure pigment is applied to the ground.
Life behind the scenes of a circus was less than idyllic. Owners often cared little for performers, and animals were treated cruelly. Painted insights from Degas, Renoir, and others.
In which Dante is terrified by three wild animals and meets the ghost of Virgil. Together they make their way to the gates of Hell.
This new series will travel with Dante and Virgil as they visit Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, looking at the many masterworks inspired by the poem.
Biography to the death of Darius the King of Persia, with superb paintings by Degas, Elisabetta Sirani, Altdorfer, Jan Brueghel the Elder, and more.
One of Degas’ close friends, he illustrated many books in the late 19th century. His paintings were good enough to be bought by Degas, as this selection shows.
