Choice Review
This major work was published in connection with the outstanding exhibition of pictures owned by Degas that was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from October 1997 to January 1998. Although it is in effect the catalog of that exhibition, it goes far beyond it in scope and completeness, including illustration and discussion of many of the several thousands of paintings, drawings, and prints that could not be borrowed. A second, companion volume will be an illustrated summary catalog of the entire collection. Degas's plan to found a museum explains the size of the collection. Naturally it is strongest in the artists of his own time, such as Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Mary Cassatt as well as earlier artists whose work interested him. These included Ingres, Delacroix, and Daumier. Equally important are "Degas's Degas"--works of his own, particularly early and late works, that he chose to keep. The excellently reproduced illustrations (426 with 200 in color) give an invaluable overall picture of the artist. Essays by various authors make major contributions. Most of these were written for this volume and cover such subjects as Degas as a collector of his own and other painters' works and the collecting milieu. There are also two essays on Degas as a printmaker and a final section on the disposal of the collection following his death in 1917. This important work sheds new light on a major 19th-century artist and should be in all libraries. General; upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. T. J. McCormick emeritus, Wheaton College (MA)
Library Journal Review
Degas, had he not produced a large body of art, would have been known as a great collector. Originally intending to establish a museum for his treasures, the secretive Degas later abandoned the idea, and the contents of his studio were dispersed at auction after his death in 1918. This catalog for a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art presents a series of essays examining turn-of-the-century art collecting in France, chronicling the famous auctions, and exploring the relationship between Degas's own painting and the works he selected, including those by Ingres, Delacroix, Gauguin, Manet, Daumier, and many others. Each chapter is fully footnoted and richly illustrated with full-color reproductions. As the book reveals, much of the French art in the world's finest museums once belonged to Degas. This unique catalog will have wide appeal, interesting collectors and dealers; scholars and students of Degas, French painting, and Impressionism; and the museum-going public. Recommended for art collections and larger public libraries.Ellen Bates, MLS, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
