National Gallery of Art: ‘Degas/Cassatt’
With just 70 works squeezed into four small galleries, this show about the unlikely but long-lasting friendship between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas is not your typical Impressionist blockbuster.
[Through 5 Oct. 2014] Familiar paintings and pastels are outnumbered here by prints and drawings. But that focus ultimately proves to be a smart decision; the unpolished, process-oriented works by Degas and Cassatt present both artists in a new light, allowing viewers a glimpse of the inspiration each found in the work of the other. One exception to the limited role of major paintings: the Cassatt masterpiece “Little Girl in a Blue Armchair,” from the National Gallery’s collection, fresh from a trip to the conservation lap.
On the National Mall (between Third and Seventh Streets) at Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, 202-737-4215, nga.gov.