Manet/Degas Exhibition at The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting a new exhibition, Manet/Degas. It explores the relationship and works of two of the most influential artists of modern art, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas.
Manet and Degas were friends, rivals, and inspirations of one another. They first met in the Louvre in front of the painting of Infanta Margarita Teresa. Degas was etching a motif from the painting when Manet came and commented that drawing outside the studio without any preparation beforehand was bold and unseen. That was the start of their long-lasting relationship.
The two artists did not keep correspondence but wrote about one another to their friends and family. Degas even drew multiple portraits of Manet, showing admiration for his colleague. Both artists admired each other’s work but, at the same time, stayed critical. One of the most interesting and still unexplained situations happened when Degas presented Manet and his wife with a painting that pictured Manet sitting on a sofa in a very relaxed position, listening to his wife playing the piano. The next time Degas came to Manet’s apartment, he saw that the part of the painting that depicted Madame Manet’s face was torn off. There are no definite explanations, but one is that Manet did not like how his wife’s face was presented. Instead, he ripped it off of the painting and drew his portrait of her.
Manet and Degas often used the same motifs in their works. Once, they even used the same model for their painting. It was an actress, Ellen Andree. Degas portrayed her in his painting “In a Cafe,” where she sits with a man. The couple looks very distant, as they are separated by an invisible wall. The woman looks down melancholically, thinking about something we will never guess.
Manet’s painting “Plum Brandy” was drawn a year later. Here, the woman is dressed nicer than in Degas’s work and looks a little bit more happy. Still, similarly to Degas, there is melancholy in her eyes. This painting was very controversial. The woman of good status and well brought up was not supposed to be sitting in a cafe on her own, especially considering that she had a cigarette in her hand and a plum brandy in front of her. We can see, though, that she did not touch her drink or her cigarette, making us question the status of this woman and the circumstances that made her come to the cafe alone.
Edouard Manet passed away in 1883, leaving Degas alone for 34 more years until he passed in 1917. Degas was shaken by Manet’s death and started actively collecting his paintings. Degas was able to get about 80 works by Manet, preserving some of his most valuable pieces.
This exhibition is an amazing opportunity to dive into the world of 19th-century France and get acquainted with two of the most important artists of the time. If you decide to go, make sure to plan some extra time. You will have to enter the online queue before being allowed to enter the exhibition, and that might take some time.
Open through January 7, 2024.
Article by Mary Zakharova