Van Gogh, Degas, Cézanne – a host of the world’s greatest artists are being celebrated at a new one-of-a-kind exhibition in London.
You might recognise the paintings of Impressionist artists such as Degas, Cézanne, Morisot, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, but it’s their radical, lesser-known works on paper that are going under the spotlight in a new ground-breaking exhibition.
The group of revolutionary masters are being celebrated at London’s Royal Academy of Arts in a new show exploring how they brought a new prestige to artworks created on paper.
Technological advances meant charcoals and chalks and machine-produced paper became widely available. And that changed how the art industry functioned.
“Works on paper during this period – that is the last three decades of the 19th century, especially in Paris – took on a completely new status vis a vis (next to) paintings,” explains the exhibition’s curator, Ann Dumas.
She adds: “Traditionally, drawings had been very much done in preparation for paintings. Now, artists sort of saw the value of making a drawing, a work on paper, that was complete and was worthwhile in its own right.”
What’s on display at the exhibition?
To have so many of these works in one place, 77 in total, is a special moment – especially considering how delicate they are.
“We have works by many of the great artists associated with the Impressionist and post-Impressionist movements. So we’ve got Renoir, Degas, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and so on,” says Dumas.
“But these are works that you don’t normally see because works on paper suffer from exposure to light. And so they’re never on permanent display,” says Dumas.
The works on display highlight the enduring popularity of Impressionism, and traces the movement’s emergence in the late 19th century through to the early 20th century.
Visitors can see gems like Georges Seurat’s preparatory work for his famous ‘Bathers at Asnières’ painting and several of Degas’ iconic ballet dancer works, such as ‘Dancers on a Bench’.
And there are works by female Impressionist papers, like Eva Gonzales, who have largely been overlooked in favour of their male counterparts.
“So this exhibition is really special because what it’s doing is it’s telling us new things about the Impressionists and the Post-impressionists, such as the fact that new materials were being made, so we’ve got new ways of making pastel and watercolour and paper. So everything’s transportable, which of course makes it easier for the artist to go outside and work en plein air, on the spot,” says art critic Estelle Lovatt.
The exhibition, ‘Impressionists on Paper: Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec’ runs from 25 November to 10 March 2024.
Video editor • Theo Farrant
