2016, Degas and the Dancers
Yun Contemporary Art Centre, Shanghai
15th Oct 2016 - 22nd Jan 2017 , Yun Contemporary Art Centre, Shanghai
This is the first exhibition in mainland China be dedicated to Degas specifically.
It is also the first major art exhibition to be shown in the new Yun Contemporary Art Centre. The exhibition explores the late works of Degas examining how Degas captured movement and personality in his art, as he bridged the development between Impressionism and Modernism. The exhibition is curated by Jon Whiteley, emeritus curator at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The exhibition comprises of 23 works by Degas from the National Museum in Belgrade and 6 wonderful bronzes loaned by the Sladmore Gallery which include three horses and three dancers. Highlights of the exhibition include the extraordinary ‘Danseuse Mettant son Bas, premiere etude’, an early twentieth century, impressionistic bronze model of a ‘Dancer putting on her Stocking’ and the expressive ‘Cheval de Trait, workhorse’.
About The Artist
Edgar Degas was born in Paris in 1834, making him among the oldest of the artists who were to exhibit together regularly from 1874 and become known as the Impressionists. His father was a native of Naples and his mother of New Orleans, cities where he himself stayed for long periods, his acquaintance with Italy extending to other great artistic centres that also contributed significantly to his formative influences. Enrolled at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts in 1855, Degas did not pursue the Prix de Rome as his father’s relations and his family’s financial circumstances made it superfluous for him to obtain a state bursary to study the Italian masters.