A rare collection of almost haunting and intimate depictions of late 19th-century modern life by French artist Edgar Degas is making a rare appearance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The artist’s monotypes are on display for the first time in 50 years in the exhibit, “A Strange New Beauty,” which allows guests to view his works in chronological order, tracing his journey as he explored and experimented with stylistic boundaries. Of the 300 monotype prints created over a 20-year span, 120 rarely seen works are on display, along with 60 pastels, prints and sketches.
The artist’s mature style is known for unfinished portions in otherwise meticulously rendered paintings. Though he blamed it on vision problems, his colleagues and collectors alike were skeptical, agreeing such artworks could not have been executed by anyone with poor vision. Edgar Degas is said to have been notoriously reluctant to consider any of his works complete. Come see and judge for yourself.
The show premiered on March 26 and lasts through July 24. Click here for more information about Edgar Degas. Click here for tickets.
