Artists through the ages have copied works of the masters to improve their own techniques, methods and compositions. Participants in this class will select a work of art that inspires and interests them from our special exhibition Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist. All levels will improve their drawing through close observation and individualized instruction using provided sketchbooks and graphite pencils.

Muscarelle Members, W&M Staff, Faculty and Students: $10
Non-Members: $25

Robert Flynn Johnson, a collector and former curator, will discuss his passion for Degas and his approach to collecting the works featured in Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist exhibition. Johnson notes that it is “the ability to be curious that is the crucial element in the makeup of a true collector —the ability to ask questions, to learn, and to get answers regarding works of art that catch your eye and move your emotions.”

FREE

Margaret MacNamidhe, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor at School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Bright pastel hatched in like slanting rain; the crook of an elbow, the side of a face swiped in by a rag applied to paper—techniques from the worlds of drawing and printmaking gave Degas the scenes of keyhole realism taken as most characteristic of his work. But Degas once stood foursquare before an easel, trying for a more traditional fullness of view and composition. In his early days he applied an oil painting brush to primed canvas or paper, but not always confidently, and not always conclusively. In fact, it is as though Degas stepped forever away from some of his earlier paintings, leaving figures eternally suspended or only partly rendered. In this lecture, Margaret MacNamidhe takes a look at this doubting version of Degas through a return to works from the beginning of this artist’s storied career.

FREE

March 30 | 5 – 8 PM
Steve Prince

Connect to the past through guided instruction on the techniques and challenges of costumed figure drawing. Participants will be inspired by works by Degas and his contemporaries in the galleries and move to close observation of live models in period dress seated in the gallery. Open to all levels, this workshop will focus on graphite portrait drawing with materials included.

Muscarelle Members, W&M Staff, Faculty and Students: $10
Non-Members: $25

Join us for a graphite drawing class in celebration of Degas and the art of dance. Participants will learn to capture dynamic moves of live dancers in the gallery through basic drawing instruction. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned artist looking to improve your drawing skills, this workshop caters to all levels and all materials will be provided.

Muscarelle Members, W&M Staff, Faculty and Students: $10
Non-Members: $25

April 7 at 6 PM (in person)

Muscarelle Museum of Art
Directed by David Bickerstaff

(Run time: 85 minutes) On the occasion of 100 years since the death of Edgar Degas, in 2017, the Fitzwilliam Museum
in Cambridge organized an exhibition from their extensive holdings of works in commemoration of the celebrated artist. This film provides exclusive access to view rare and diverse works in the Fitzwilliam collection and provides insights into the fascinating story of Degas’ pursuit for perfection through both experimentation with new techniques and through lessons he learned from studying past masters. Using written accounts by friends and commentators, and the narration of letters written by Degas himself, this film reveals a more complex truth behind one of the most influential French artists of the late 19th century and serves as an
exploration of the complex workings of Degas’ artistic mind.

FREE

April 27 at 7 PM, in person
The William & Mary Gallery Players

Muscarelle Museum of Art The William & Mary Gallery Players will present a concert to celebrate the musical tastes and passions of Edgar Degas. String ensemble works by Claude Debussy, Donizetti, Gluck, and Mozart will be featured in this homage to this enigmatic artist. These musical compositions represent the work of a fellow Impressionist, as well as Degas’ love for grand style opera and 18th century composers. Book Club

FREE

Michelle Foa, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History, Tulane University

Described by a close friend as “an artisan passionate about all the means of his art,” Degas’ body of work reflects a sustained fascination with material and technical experimentation. Michelle Foa’s lecture will shed new light on the artist’s persistent engagement with an unusual array of media and processes over the course of his career, particularly his innovative use of pastel. Careful examination of his pictures and of friends’ accounts of his studio and working processes demonstrates his remarkable use of media to depict his subjects in entirely new ways and to expand the limits of pictorial representation. Degas’ “restless searches for new procedures,” as one critic put it, and his constant testing of the behaviors and capacities of his media and tools, reveal an artist for whom the life of matter and the matter of art were central to the meaning of his pictures.

FREE