Manet / Degas

Edgar Degas, Young Woman with Ibis, 1857/58, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Edgar Degas (1834-1917) both played a pivotal role in the new painting of the 1860s-80s. This exhibition, which brings together the two painters in the light of their contrasts, forces us to take a new look at their real bond. It shows the heterogeneous and conflicting nature of pictorial modernity and reveals the value of Degas’ collection, in which Manet occupied a larger place after the latter’s death.

The exhibition reveals both the similarities in their respective bodies of work - the new subjects they chose, the genres they reinvented, the places they frequented - and what differentiated or opposed them. From dissimilar backgrounds and with different temperaments, they did not share the same tastes in literature and music, and their attitudes towards achieving recognition were in total opposition. As the two artists got older, Manet's sociable nature and domestic life was in stark contrast with Degas' secret existence and restricted entourage.