September 29 – December 30, 2007

Hear WRTI's Creatively Speaking segment on Degas and the Art of Japan aired on October 6, 2007 - click here!

Hear multi-media artist Tullio Francesco DeSantis talk about this exhibit on WEEU's Feedback, aired 12/17/07 - click here!

This unique exhibition, organized by the Reading Public Museum, includes works by Degas borrowed from museums and private collections in the United States, Canada and Europe – as well as three extraordinary pictures by Degas belonging to the Reading Public Museum’s permanent collection. The Degas works will be complemented by a similar number of Japanese objects from major national institutions, as well as from the Museum’s own extensive collection.

The works of Edgar Degas were deeply influenced by Japanese art, yet surprisingly, there has never been an exhibition devoted to this subject. This will be the first exhibition of its kind to bring together a variety of paintings, drawings, pastels and sculptures by Degas with an illuminating selection of Japanese objects, including works actually owned by Degas and many images he knew and admired, by artists such as Hokusai, Utamaro and Hiroshige. Displayed side-by-side with the art of the famous Impressionist, these dynamic scenes of Japanese life will be revealed as the inspiration for many of Degas’ most inventive pictures of dancers, cabaret singers, laundresses and the French countryside.

Ronald C. Roth, Director and CEO of the Museum stated, “Degas and the Art of Japan is a historic exhibition for the Reading Public Museum. Nearly three years in the making, it is the first exhibition ever that combines the universal appeal of one of the world’s greatest artists, Edgar Degas, with the ravishing beauty of Japanese art. It will be a once in a lifetime experience for our visitors. The exhibition highlights the Reading Public Museum’s great collections of Degas and Japanese art, enriched by works being loaned from museums and private collections worldwide.”

The exhibition will include more than sixty works, including exceptional loans from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; and others. It will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated color catalogue that offers scholarly investigation of the historical background and important new themes. This book was compiled by exhibition curators Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall, who also organized the groundbreaking exhibition Degas and the Dance in 2002-3 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Degas and the Art of Japan will include an exploration of Degas’ personal interest in Ukiyo-e prints and his association with collectors of Japanese imagery and handicrafts from the 1860s and beyond. A sequence of thematic sections will then examine the varied ways in which Degas responded to these strikingly vivid objects in his own representations of the modern world. Like several of his Impressionist artist colleagues, Degas enthusiastically absorbed their oblique perspectives, diagonal arrangements of forms, and looming, “cut-off” shapes, introducing new dynamism to his representation of contemporary Paris.

As the exhibition progresses, Degas’ debt to Japanese art comes alive in portraits, pictures of women bathing and combing their hair, scenes of theater-goers and ladies of leisure, and in fans, one decorated by the artist himself. Previously unidentified links between Degas’ pictures of laundresses and their Ukiyo-e prototypes will be brought to light, as will other little-known aspects of the French artist’s sustained engagement with the art of Japan.

This exhibition is underwritten by the Marlin and Ginger Miller Exhibition Endowment and Sovereign Bank. Additional grants for the exhibition have been made by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Jerlyn Foundation, Yuasa Battery, Inc., and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

For this exhibition, admission costs will be raised temporarily to $10 for Adults (18-60), $6 for Seniors/Children (4-17)/Students (with ID) and Members/Children under four free. This will include a ticket for admission to the special Degas and the Art of Japan exhibition. Regular admission fees will apply to those who are visiting ground and first floors only.

Reading Public Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday Noon to 5 p.m. The Reading Public Museum is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading, PA.

Related Events

• A related lecture, “The Japan Idea: Japanese Influence on American Art & Design,” will be presented on Friday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. by Jacqueline M. Atkins, Ph.D., Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles at Allentown Art Museum. Join her for a discussion of the Japanese component of the 1876 Centennial Exposition and its influence through woodblock prints on American architecture, graphic design, textiles, furniture and even Frank Loyd Wright. The cost will be $12 Members/$15 Non-Members (Special rate of $10 if you join as a Member now!). Admission to the Degas and the Art of Japan exhibition is included. Pre-registration is required by calling 610-371-5850 ext. 229.

• On Saturday, December 8, noon to 4 p.m., instructor Rebecca Ross will present “Beginner’s Soft Pastel: an Investigation of Degas’ Medium.” Students will create a pastel painting based on a still life after doing color and technical exercises. For ages 16 through adult, students signing up for this class should have some drawing experience, and will provide their own drawing materials (a supply list will be provided upon request). Becky Ross has 28 years experience as an artist. Much of her M.F.A. thesis work at James Madison University was in soft pastel. Her pastels have been exhibited locally, regionally and nationally. The cost is $40 Members/$50 Non-members. To register, call 610-371-5850 ext. 227.

Local and Regional Collaborations

Many area organizations are collaborating with the Reading Public Museum to promote the exhibition to the widest audience possible. Some efforts to date include:

• The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA, is offering several workshops related to the exhibition. On Thursday, October 25, 2007, W. Eugene Burkhart, Jr., internationally-recognized floral designer, will present Oshibana: The Japanese Art of Flower Pressing, with instruction sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. On Sunday, November 4, 2007, studio artist Susie Martin will present Ceramics: Japanese Teapot Workshop, with sessions at 12:30-2:30 p.m. (ages 6-12) and 3-5 p.m. (ages 14 to adult). For more information and to register, visit www.goggleworks.org, or call 610-374-4600.

Also, GoggleWorks artists Alan and Lily Cernak will be givng a series of workshops/demonstrations, Saturdays in November from 10 a.m. until noon, with the schedule as follows:

• November 3: Alan -- origami Japanese paper folding. Lily -- manga drawing demonstration -- highly stylized Japanese artwork used in graphic novels.
• November 10: Alan and Lily -- gyotaku -- hands-on demonstration/workshop of Japanese art of contact printing of fish.
• November 17: Alan -- chiyogami demonstration -- Japanese art of three dimensional paper doll making. Lily -- manga drawing demonstration -- highly stylized artwork used in graphic novels.
• November 24: Alan and Lily -- kami ningyo demonstration -- making traditional Japanese paper dolls.

For more information on this series, contact sgiles@goggleworks.org or sslattery@goggleworks.org.

• As part of its Performing Arts Series, Kutztown University, on Tuesday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m., Yamato and its high-power exhilarating drummers returns to Kutztown with a brand-new show Shin-on — Heartbeat. With several dozen large and small drums (including an odaiko made from a huge tree over 400 years old), Yamato put their very souls into these unusual instruments, whose sound stirs the hearts of people everywhere. For details, check www.kutztown.edu/activities/kupas/performances/series/

• On Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m., the Reading Symphony Orchestra will present Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun as part of its concert at the Sovereign Performing Arts Center.

Hear WRTI's Creatively Speaking segment on Degas and the Art of Japan aired on October 6, 2007 - click here!

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