But I found no delicacy, either in his technique or his subject matter. He seems driven to expose the essence of a thing, even at the cost of its identity. We see bathers caught in intimate moments, but stripped of mystique. We see ballerinas caught back stage, stretching or looking at the performance, but each solitary, even when in a group. We see the colors meld together into a visual stew.
Details suggest themselves, but never seem to resolve.
Degas constantly experimented, and it's a tribute to him that he reinvented himself. He died in 1917 at the age of 82. Despite failing eyesight, he still sought to create new perspectives on the world. We spent about 45 minutes in the exhibit itself. At about 4pm we left the Art Institute and headed to Gino's East Pizzeria.