Reviews on Inside Out Upside Down Gallery Site
Degas master of French art
The National Gallery of Australia has presented a wonderful collection of the works of Eduard Degas. Spanning his complete oeuvre with minor omissions the exhibition presents a life’ of works on paper, canvas, photography, and sculpture. The arrangement of the works is in part chronological with a concession in the introductory space to encompass an informative span of his works.
The exhibition does over hype Degas work and his supposed impact on modern art but this is to be expected in an art community that still persists in thinking that French late 19th century avant guard art is something special. The period was important in increasing our understanding of subject matter and the use of effects from first observation but to say that all modern art is from this linage is false.
Unfortunately for a painter the exhibition is flawed by a lack of light. This is perhaps necessary to allow the public, with a more general interest, to pass through the exhibition in sufficient numbers to recover the costs of the exhibition. Limitations on what viewers can do like “no photography” and “no sketching” are very annoying to a painter.
At a number of locations in the exhibition a barrier has been placed to keep the observer at a distance of nearly three feet. This distance, coupled with the low light makes it impossible, for those amongst us with long vision, to do more than look at the rather blurred outline of the images in front of us. Past exhibitions in this same space have been well illuminated and I find it hard to see how such a poor decision regarding lighting could have been made and approved by the gallery.
Had I been aware of the low light and viewing distance issues I would have bought the catalogue and would not have gone to the exhibition. It is indeed disappointing to travel seven hundred kilometres to see work by an artist that influenced the art of Europe while maintaining his desire to produce objects of beauty ……….and then not be able to really see them at all.
If you do have long sight and want to see these paintings at close quarters do not go to this exhibition. Buy the catalogue instead.
author: Neil Miley