Exhibition On Screen: DEGAS – PASSION FOR PERFECTION

Director: David Bickerstaff, Exhibition curator: Jane Munro.

2018, UK, 90, G

 

“Art is not a matter of what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas.
Take a cinematic journey from the streets of Paris to the heart of the superb exhibition ‘Degas: Passion for Perfection’ at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, with exclusive access to the artist’s most famous – and least seen works. This film tells a fascinating story of Degas’ pursuit for perfection: although tormented by obsessive principles and failing eyesight, his determination to capture everyday life was evident in every piece of art he created. Using written accounts by friends and commentators, and the narration (by James Faulkner of Downton Abbey) of letters written by Degas, this film reveals a more complex truth behind one of the most influential French artists of the late 19th-century.

“It completely altered my understanding of Degas as a man and as an artist.” Olivia Hewes, VaristyCambridge.com