FRIEZE
The Revival of Modernist Spirit from the Met’s Manet/Degas Exhibition
The Met takes visitors on a Modernist journey back in time, in the first exhibit on the relationship and dialogue of Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas.
In the nineteenth century, Edgar Degas claimed that “only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.” At the time, Degas was certainly acting on intuition, pioneering and organizing the first Impressionist exhibitions – an unconventional and widely discredited artistic movement at the time. Following an internal Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, France’s art scene was in a period of transition. Ultimately, its new direction was spearheaded by Degas and his “affectionate rival,” Édouard Manet. Nearly two hundred years later, the artists’ dialogue and relationship is celebrated in the thought-provoking exhibition that enticed and informed crowds from around the world. In the first major exhibit on the relationship between these artistic giants, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presented Manet/Degas from September 2023 to until January 2024. While loaned works have been returned to their homes in museums such as the D’Orsay and the Louvre, the success of the exhibition has turned visitor’s attention back to the birth of modernism in the nineteenth century, and will hopefully inspire more exhibits featuring this critical period in art history.
Left: Édouard Manet, Self Portrait 1878 Right: Edgar Degas, Self Portrait 1855
Upon entering Manet/Degas, visitors may be shocked to find that the featured artworks were avant-garde at the time. Both sons of Parisian bourgeois families, Manet and Degas brought rebellious spirits to their artistic careers. When Manet was born in 1832, and Degas two years later, the Royal Academy of Art prevailed over Europe’s art scene as the most prominent professional art society. The Academy instructed and displayed Europe’s most respected young artists, exposing their works to receive critical acclaim. Baroque, Neoclassical and Romantic aesthetics characterized most early Academic artworks, with highly polished styles and historical or mythological references.
Contrasting refined Academic styles, Manet and Degas embraced the banality of everyday life and reflected it onto the page with unconventional grace. Manet’s Olympia seductively lures visitors into the second room of the exhibition through the subject’s direct gaze. With a delicate black choker and playful pink hair clip, the nude woman dares to be stared at. Upon its initial display at the Salon in 1865, the painting generated outrage among critics and the public for its candid depiction of a Parisian prostitute. Now displayed in the Met, the painting feels similarly shocking, though more positively received. One of Manet’s most influential works, Olympia enticed many visitors, including myself, to this exhibition. The painting is hung with a sense of grandeur, as the largest, most central piece in the second room. It is surrounded by Manet’s sketches of the female nude, such as Reclining Nude, which features a figurative drawing study for Olympia. The walls, painted in dark magenta, complement Olympia’s tantalizing gaze, enhancing the drama that the piece deserves. As a pivotal moment in art history, the painting is appropriately celebrated for influencing alternative depictions of femininity and beauty.
Édouard Manet, Olympia, 1863, oil on canvas, 140x190cm
Similar sketches of the female nude by Degas are hung in the surrounding space, including a study for his painting, Scene of War in the Middle Ages. While nude females were often illustrated in early nineteenth century Europe, Manet and Degas took an unprecedented approach to this subject matter. Prior to Olympia, depictions of the female nude reflected the feminine ideals from Greek or Roman mythology, which served as a veil to justify eroticism. Opposing the idealized coy female portrayed in Academic art, Manet was the first to illustrate an alternative vision of womanhood. By mimicking his style, Degas continued to rebel and inspired his pupils to do the same.
Notably, the exhibition also explores the artists’ shared theme of the female bather. Unlike Olympia, these figures are turned away from the viewer, revealing a hackneyed moment in action. Degas’ Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub depicts a woman crouching, as she wets her washing sponge. Similarly, Manet’s Woman With a Tub features a nude woman testing bathwater temperature from an unexpected perspective. Unusualness pervades both of these pieces, which capture a private scene in a particularly unflattering angle. Their hazy, colorful backgrounds create a shared sense of abstraction, revealing the experimentation in these pieces. This section of the exhibit feels intimate. Loosely constructed images of the bathers encourage audiences to appreciate the mundane beauty in washing oneself. Contrasting other pieces with more focused, intense subject matter, the bather scenes bring a refreshing lightness to the displayed works.
Edgar Degas, Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub, 1885, oil on canvas, 32 x 22 cm.
Édouard Manet, Woman with a Tub, 1879,
oil on canvas, 46x50 cm
As the exhibition shifts from sketches of the female body to scenes of bathers, audiences witness Manet and Degas’ artistic progression. Playing with different perspectives of the bathers, the artists present the female nude in a more naturalistic way than ever before. Among the artists’ considerable repertoires, these pieces evoke a sense of rawness and purity. Following these works, bathers became a significant theme in European art, influencing masterpieces such as Cezanne’s The Large Bathers and Bonnard’s The Big Bath. Through this shared theme, the exhibition creatively explores rebellion in art and its impact on societal narratives.
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The artists also challenged Academic traditions in more subtle areas, such as their choice of subject matter. Apathetic women in cafe booths are hung alongside one another in the next room, injecting the exhibit with a chic Parisian feel. Degas’ In a Cafe is complemented by Manet’s Plum Brandy, with only one year between their dates of completion. Both paintings show women with narrowly hunched shoulders and blase, downward gazes. Without the infringement of poses or perfection, the scenes feel casually comfortable and transport viewers to France. The artists capture simple moments in time and glorify the mundane in these pieces. Countering the declaratory nature of Academic art at this time, these works laid the foundation for an entirely new approach to the role of art in society.
Edgar Degas, In a Cafe, 1876 oil on canvas 92 x 68 cm
Édouard Manet, Plum Brandy, 1877 oil on canvas, 74 x 50 cm
While the exhibit undoubtedly celebrates Manet and Degas’ contribution to art history, it also reminds viewers of the importance of historical turning points. By simplifying subject matter and challenging Academic conventions, Manet and Degas ushered in modern approaches to art. Their rebellious spirits can be identified throughout subsequent artistic movements, from Impressionism, to Cubism, to Surrealism. The selected works skillfully identify thematic shifts, such as representations of femininity and a reverence for everyday simplicity. By acknowledging the artists’ dialogue and relationship, the Met further applauds their risk-taking bravery and impact on artistic norms. Audiences have likely left the exhibition inspired by Europe’s nineteenth century intellectuals and hungry for more modernist art.