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“Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France” might sound like the title of a hefty art history textbook, but is actually a rather intimate exhibition. Yes, intimate despite the fact that this stylistic survey plays out through about 150 drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Baker/Rowland Galleries.
Following in the chronological footsteps of dozens of important artists, we begin in what might be called a pre-modern phase. Artists active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries are shown via drawings that represented the academic standards of the day. The naturalistic depiction of the world and creation of beautiful figures was paramount, as well as the ability to tell a good story through images. Check out the powerful pieces from artists like Théodore Géricault and his compassionate portrayal of soldiers on their long trek home, or a mysterious small landscape by French novelist Victor Hugo.
Throughout the galleries, wall text describes new approaches and the curious, sometimes rebellious, interests of progressive artists. What is unique is the dominance of works on paper to illustrate these points. While artists would produce prints as fully “finished” pieces, usually drawings and sketches were more personal artistic property. A drawing was not something typically intended for exhibition but more like the artist’s laboratory where ideas were worked out. Other examples in the exhibition are delightful sketches, quick and charming gifts sent with letters to friends and colleagues.
Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are represented by significant artists like Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, each exploring new modes of representation through their unique approaches. Then, we break into the 20th century and the emergence of Cubism. Abstract art was coming into its own and the traditional notion that a picture had to look like something real and recognizable was falling away. Modern art became less about telling stories and more about investigating style and the construction. It shows us the world in ways that are imagined through the artist’s singular vision. As the world around them transformed, so did art of the modernists’ invention.
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Through Jan. 28 at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive.
