audio highlights

Pablo Picasso, The Dwarf, 1901, Oil on cardboard, Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 4.274), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Entrance of the Masked Dancers, c. 1884, Pastel on gray-brown paper, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (1955.559)

Edgar Degas, Study for "Dante and Virgil", c. 1856-57, pencil and chalk on paper, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (1955.1403)

Pablo Picasso, Academic Study from Life: Male Nude, from the Side, with a Pole; Sketch of Head and Bust of Male Figures, 1895-97, Pencil, Conte crayon, and ink on paper, Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.849), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Pablo Picasso, Self-Portrait, 1896, Oil on canvas, Museu Picasso Barcelona (MPB 110.076), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Self-Portrait, c. 1857-58, Oil on paper, mounted on canvas, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, (1955.544)

Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room (The Tub), 1901, Oil on canvas, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1927 (1554), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, The Tub, c. 1876-77, Monotype, Bibliotheque de l'Institut national d'histoire de l'art, Paris
Collections Jacques Doucet (EM DEGAS 4)

Edgar Degas, In a Cafe (L'Absinthe), 1875-76, Oil on canvas, Musee d'Orsay, Paris, Bequest of Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911 (RF 1984)

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Sebastia Junyer I Vidal, 1903, Oil on canvas, Los Angeles County Museum of Art., David E. Bright Bequest (M.67.25.18), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Pablo Picasso, Stuffed Shirts, 1900, Oil on panel, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs. Charles Sumner Bird (Julia Appleton Bird) (1970.475), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Benedetta Canals, 1905, Oil and charcoal on canvas, Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 4.266), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Woman with an Umbrella (Berthe Jeantaud), c. 1876, Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 1969 (inv no. 15838)

Pablo Picasso, Woman Plaiting Her Hair, 1906, Oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Florene May Schoenborn Bequest, 1996 (826.1996), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Woman Brushing Her Hair, c. 1885-90, Oil on canvas, The Kreeger Museum, Washington, D.C. (1964.4)

Edgar Degas, Pregnant Woman, c. 1896-1911, Bronze, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981

Pablo Picasso, Pregnant Woman, 1950, Bronze, first state, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1972 [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Leaving the Bath, 1879-80, Drypoint and aquatint, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, (1969.19)

Edgar Degas, Combing the Hair (La Coiffure), c. 1896, Oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London, Bought, 1937 (NG4865)

Pablo Picasso, Nude Wringing Her Hair, 7 October 1952, Oil on wood panel, Private collection, [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,  1879-81, Bronze, with gauze tutu and silk ribbon, on wooden base, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, (1955.45)

Pablo Picasso, Standing Nude, 1907, Oil on canvas, Museo del Novecento, Milan (8750), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Pablo Picasso, Two Dancers, 1919 (Summer), Pencil on paper, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The John S. Newberry Collection, 1963 (178.1963), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Edgar Degas, Three Ballet Dancers, c. 1878-80, Monotype, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.1386)

Pablo Picasso, The Madame-Abortionist and Three Prostitutes. Degas with His Hands behind His Back, second state, 1-4 May 1971, Etching (Artist proof I/XV), Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 112.234), [© 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/ARS, New York]

Picasso Looks at Degas

By Elizabeth Cowling and Richard Kendall
With additional contributions by Cécile Godefroy, Sarah Lees, and Montse Torras

The great Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) exhibited a lifelong fascination—some might say "obsession"—with the work and personality of French artist Edgar Degas (1834–1917). In this groundbreaking study, noted Degas scholar Richard Kendall and Picasso expert Elizabeth Cowling present well-documented instances of Picasso's direct responses to Degas's work, as well as more conceptual and challenging affinities between their oeuvres. Richly illustrated essays explore the artists' parallel interests in subjects including modern urban life, ballet dancers, and intimate activities such as bathing, as well as in the mediums of photography and sculpture. The book also provides the first extended analysis of Picasso's engagement with Degas's art in his final years, when he acquired several of the French artist's brothel monotypes and reworked some of them in his own prints. Offering many fresh ideas and a significant amount of new material about two of the most popular and influential artists of the modern era, this handsome book promises to make a lasting contribution to the literature on both artists.

Elizabeth Cowling is Professor Emeritus of History of Art at Edinburgh University, and an independent scholar and exhibition curator. Richard Kendall is Curator-at-Large at the Clark, as well as an independent scholar and exhibition curator. Cécile Godefroy is a researcher at the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte in Madrid. Sarah Lees is Associate Curator of European Art at the Clark. Montse Torras is Exhibitions Coordinator at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

368 pages, 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches
310 color and 9 black-and-white illustrations
2010
Published by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
and the Museu Picasso, Barcelona
ISBN 978-0-300-13412-4
ISBN 978-0-931102-86-8