At the Lightner: Private Impressionist Edgar Degas

A rare look at over fifty original works of pioneering artist Edgar Degas comes to St. Augustine’s Lightner Museum on view from April 12th – June 16th.  Edgar Degas, one of the leading lights of the 19th century art scene, is best known for his enchanting paintings of ballet dancers on and off the stage.

Little is widely known about the enigmatic artist’s life and personality; however, during this exhibition, the Lightner Museum offers unique insights into Degas’ inner world and the opportunity to see rarely exhibited works from the private collection of curator Robert Flynn Johnson.

“Through his art, his words, and the circle of his friends represented in the exhibition, the private persona of this elusive artist may emerge,” Johnson says.

Historic City News readers will be able to view works on paper by Cassatt and Manet along with etchings and prints by many other famous members of Degas’ artistic circle. Works by Jean Leon Gerome, Honore Daumier, Pierre Puvis de Chavanne, Jean Everett Millais, JeanAuguste Dominique Ingres, Alfred Stevens, Camille Pissarro, Gustave Moreau, Paul Cézanne and Eadweard Muybridge offer a fascinating look at the artist’s life and times.

The exhibit also features a collection of beautifully colored monotype prints commissioned by Degas’ art dealer Ambroise Vollard; never before shown alongside Degas’ work.  A fully illustrated catalog written by Degas scholar and Curator of the Royal Academy of Art, Ann Dumas, accompanies the exhibit.

About the Lightner Museum

The Lightner Museum is housed in the former Alcazar Hotel built in 1888 by Henry Flagler. Today it is home to one of the premier collections of fine and decorative 19th century art in the country. The Museum is open to the public seven days a week and features self-guided tours, tours by reservation for adults and children, and demonstrations of antique mechanical musical instruments. The Lightner Museum is a nonprofit cultural institution sustained by the generous support of individuals, businesses and sponsors.

Photograph Edgar Degas and August Clot (French, active 19th Century), Before the Race, ca. 1895, Color Lithograph