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Home>Exhibitions>Past>2020>Degas at the Opéra

# Degas at the Opéra

March 1 – October 12, 2020West Building, Ground Floor, Outer Tier Galleries

Edgar Degas, *The Curtain*, c. 1880, pastel over charcoal and monotype on laid paper mounted on board, sheet: 29 x 33.3 cm (11 7/16 x 13 1/8 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

**This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.**

 An exuberant display of fecund imagination and keen observation, Edgar Degas’s renowned images of the Paris Opéra are among the most sophisticated and visually compelling works he ever created. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Opéra’s founding, *Degas at the Opéra* will present approximately 100 of the artist’s best-known and beloved works in a range of media, including paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, and sculpture. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalog.

Degas (1834–1917) is celebrated as *the* painter of dancers, a subject that dominated his art for nearly four decades. Although there have been many exhibitions celebrating his love of the ballet, this will be the first to consider his enduring fascination with the opéra. A music lover and regular visitor to performances, Degas explored both the public spaces of the Paris Opéra—auditorium, stage, and boxes—as well as more private ones, including dance studios and backstage. He was friends with many of the people he depicted in his paintings, from dancers, singers, and orchestra musicians to the dark-suited subscribers.

The Opéra also fueled some of Degas’s most daring technical innovations, including his first monotype, *The Ballet Master* (c. 1876), and his wax statue *Little Dancer Aged Fourteen* (1881), which revolutionized sculpture.

The exhibition is curated by Degas expert Henri Loyrette with Kimberly A. Jones, curator of 19th-century French paintings, National Gallery of Art; Leïla Jarbouai, graphic arts curator, Musée d'Orsay; and Marine Kisiel, conseillère scientifique, Institut national d'histoire de l'art; former curator, Musée d'Orsay.

Originally scheduled to close on July 5, 2020, the exhibition closed early when the COVID-19 pandemic museum closure began on March 14, 2020. The exhibition re-opened on July 20, 2020, with an extended closing date of October 12, 2020.

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Portrait of Eugénie Fiocre a propos of the Ballet “La Source,”* 1867–1868, oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, Gift of James H. Post, A. Augustus Healy, and John T. Underwood, 1921, 21.111. Photo: Brooklyn Museum

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Ballet from "Robert Le Diable,"* 1871–1872, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, 29.100.552. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Song Rehearsal*, c. 1872, oil on canvas, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, House Collection, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, 1940. Photo © Dumbarton Oaks, Washington

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Orchestra of the Opéra*, 1870, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Dance Class*, c. 1873, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.79.710

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Dance Class*, begun 1873, completed 1875–1876, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Bequest of Isaac de Camondo, 1911. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, Vicomte Ludovic Lepic, *The Ballet Master*, c. 1876, monotype (black ink) heightened and corrected with white chalk or wash on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1964.8.1782

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Ballet Rehearsal on Stage*, 1874, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Bequest of Isaac de Camondo, 1911. Photo © Musée d'Orsay), Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Patrice Schmidt

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Dancer with a Bouquet Curtseying on Stage*, 1878, pastel on wove paper mounted on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Bequest of Isaac de Camondo, 1911. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Curtain*, c. 1880, pastel over charcoal and monotype on laid paper mounted on board, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2006.128.16

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Study of a Theater Box*, 1880, pastel and oil on board laid down on canvas, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Lewis Collection, 377-2014. Photo © The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Albert Sanchez, photographer

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *The Dance Lesson*, c. 1879, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1995.47.6

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Dancers*, 1879, gouache, oil pastel, and oil paint on silk, Tacoma Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. W. Hilding Lindberg, 1983.1.8. Photo: Duncan Price

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Three Nude Dancers Executing Arabesques*, c. 1892–1895, charcoal on paper mounted on board, Bueil & Ract‐Madoux Collection, Paris. Photo: Jean-Louis Losi, Paris

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas,* Pauline and Virginie Conversing with Admirers*, c. 1876–1877, monotype (black ink) on India paper, Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bequest of Meta and Paul J. Sachs, 1965. Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Little Dancer Aged Fourteen*, 1878-1881, pigmented beeswax, clay, metal armature, rope, paintbrushes, human hair, silk and linen ribbon, cotton faille bodice, cotton and silk tutu, linen slippers, on wooden base, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1999.80.28

Degas at the Opera
Edgar Degas, *Dance Examination*, 1880, pastel on paper, Lent by the Denver Art Museum, 1941.6. Photo: akg-images

**Organization:** Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Musées d'Orsay et de l'Orangerie, Paris

**Sponsors:**BP America is proud to be a sponsor of this Washington, DC, exhibition as part of its support for the arts in the United States. Adrienne Arsht also kindly provided a leadership gift for this exhibition. Additional funding is provided by Jacqueline B. Mars and The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

**Hashtag:** #DegasOpera

**Attendance:** 41,611

**Catalog:**Degas at the Opera. By Henry Loyrette, Kimberly A. Jones, Leila Jarbouai, and Marine Kisiel.  Grand Palais: Musee d’Orsay, 2020.

**Other venues:** Musée d'Orsay, Paris, September 24, 2019–January 19, 2020

Degas at the Opéra Virtual Tour

Exhibition Feature: Degas's Opéra

Feature: Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

Feature: Modeling Movement: Degas’s Dancers

Press Materials

Press Release: Facture: Conservation, Science, Art History, Volume 3: Degas

Shop: Custom Prints

                    - Degas, Edgar
                    - French , 1834 - 1917

                    - Edgar Degas, executed in collaboration with Vicomte Lepic
                    - The Ballet Master
                    - c. 1876
                    - Edgar Degas
                    - Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
                    - 1878-1881

 

Lecture: Introduction to the Exhibition: Degas at the OpéraMarch 8, 2:00 p.m.East Building Auditorium

Concert: **Agora Dance with Sound Impact **(canceled)Backstage at the OperaMarch 15, 3:30 p.m.West Building, West Garden CourtFilm: **The Paris Opéra (original title L'Opéra)**(canceled)April 4, 11:00 a.m.April 25, 2:00 p.m.May 23, 24, 2:00 p.m.East Building Auditorium

                  - Black Opera as Architecture: A Conversation with Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    June 30, 2020, (68:58 minutes)                                
                  - Black Opera as Architecture: A Conversation with Kimberly Drew, Alicia Hall Moran, and Imani Uzuri
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    June 30, 2020, (69:18 minutes)                                
                  - Introduction to the Exhibition—Degas at the Opéra
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    March 24, 2020, (63:57 minutes)                                
                  - Degas at the Opéra: Introductory Slide Overview
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    March 24, 2020, (43:31 minutes)                                
                  - Degas at the Opéra: Introductory Slide Overview
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    March 24, 2020, (43:29 minutes)                                
                  - Introduction to the Exhibition—Degas at the Opéra
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    March 24, 2020, (63:57 minutes)                                
                  - Press Event: Degas at the Opéra
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    February 25, 2020, (95:25 minutes)                                
                  - Reflections on the Collection: The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professors at the National Gallery of Art: Jacqueline Lichtenstein on Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    November 28, 2017, (5:07 minutes)                                
                  - Reflections on the Collection: The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professors at the National Gallery of Art: Jacqueline Lichtenstein on Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    November 28, 2017, (5:07 minutes)                                

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