Their groundbreaking bodies of work would have been vastly different, if not unthinkable, without the creative exchanges that punctuated their careers from the time of their meeting in the early s.
Examining their paintings, drawings, and prints in direct juxtaposition for the first time, this exhibition not only highlights the intersections of their artistic production but also reveals the contrasts, conflicts, and divergent paths that shaped modern art from its origins.
Manet and Degas were born just two years apart, both the eldest sons of Parisian upper-middle-class families, yet their differing temperaments led to strikingly distinct styles, political views, career strategies, and approaches to different media. Given the scarce primary evidence of their complex relationship, direct comparison of their works is even more crucial, allowing us to assess how these giants of French painting defined themselves with and against each other.
But this particular evening would be immortalized by their friend Edgar Degas, who, with his talent for total recall, would go home and paint the scene as a gift for the young couple. Manet off. Perhaps we can find a clue in their first meeting, less than a decade before, in the galleries of the Louvre. Manet was thirty-two, Degas thirty. Both, rebellious sons of bourgeois families.
And they were among the first generations of artists to avail themselves of a comparatively recent invention—the museum. For artists who had previously studied black-and-white reproductions, the experience of seeing the actual works was a revelation. The Louvre became a training ground that could in many ways even substitute for the traditional classroom experiences of the Academy. It was unusual to make an etching outside of the studio. And whether it was before or after Degas made his colors how we might imagine their exchange.
