Discover Degas & Miss La La

Anne Robbins, Chiara Di Stefano, Laurie Fierstein , Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby

$34.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

National Gallery Company Ltd
10 July 2024

Art & design styles: Impressionism & Post-Impressionism; Individual artists, art monographs; Human figures depicted in art

The extraordinary story behind Degas's groundbreaking painting of the biracial circus performer Miss La La

Edgar Degas's Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando (1879) is one of only two paintings by the artist representing people of colour. Miss La La, born Anna Olga Brown to a white Prussian mother and African-American emancipated slave father, was a renowned performer of extraordinary daring in fin-de-siècle Paris.

Exploring the fascinating story behind Degas's painting, this is the first in-depth study to focus on the sitter's identity, presenting new research on her life and career, as well as unpublished photographic material tracing her tour across Europe. The book also analyses the genesis of Degas's work, from his rapid sketches completed on the spot to his more elaborate preparatory drawings and pastels.

The son of a Creole mother from New Orleans, Degas travelled to Louisiana in 1872–73, which was to have a lasting impact on his art. This book examines the artist's complex attitudes to ethnicity in relation to his own family background, and the representation of multiracial people in late nineteenth-century France.

Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

National Gallery, London

(June 6–September 1, 2024)

By: Anne Robbins, Chiara Di Stefano
Contributions by: Laurie Fierstein, Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby, Denise Murrell
Imprint: National Gallery Company Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 251mm, Width: 210mm,
ISBN: 9781857097146
ISBN 10: 1857097149
Pages: 136
Publication Date: 10 July 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Anne Robbins is Curator of Painting at Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Chiara Di Stefano is Associate Curator of Post-1800 Paintings at The National Gallery, London. Laurie Fierstein is an independent scholar based in New York. Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Arts and Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. Denise Murrell is Associate Curator of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Isolde Pludermacher is Curator of Painting at Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Christopher Riopelle is Neil Westreich Curator of Post-1800 Paintings at The National Gallery, London.