women: Their private world

Degas produced hundreds of images of women washing themselves and doing their hair, rejecting mythological subject matter in favor of ordinary contemporary scenes. In taking up the same motifs at the turn of the century, Picasso invited direct comparison with Degas. In 1906, when toilette scenes briefly dominated his work, Picasso adopted a willfully "primitive" form of classicism, drawing inspiration from Degas's daringly simplified late style. The posthumous sales of the contents of Degas's studio in 1918--19 brought a flood of unknown drawings and paintings onto the market, and shortly thereafter the first set of bronzes was cast from Degas's wax sculptures. Picasso's interest in Degas was reignited, and for the rest of his life he periodically produced major paintings and suites of drawings depicting women engrossed in their toilette, never imitating Degas closely but acknowledging his precedent by echoing his most characteristic poses and devices.

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