The exhibition entitled “Degas, a lonely artist gazing through bustling life” is held to celebrate the anniversary of the grand opening of Asia Museum of Modern Art at Asia University. It is the first international exhibition taking place in Taiwan for Edgar Degas, who is a famous 19th-century Impressionism master. The exhibition will last for 10 months from Oct. 24, 2014 to Aug. 2, 2015. In addition to the 74 pieces of sculptures, the authentic oil painting “Portrait of Monsieur and Madame Edouard Manet” borrowed from the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art will be shown in the exhibition as well, starting from June next year. Hsun Chiang, a famous aesthetics master in Taiwan, was invited to be the chief planning director of the exhibition and will host several art lectures in the exhibition period. It is definitely a wonderful exhibition that one cannot miss, because he/she can enjoy the speeches of Chiang and the masterpieces of Degas in the meantime. Chang-hai Tsai, the founder of Asia University, thanked Mayor Hu for his suggestion to seize a few years ago the chance of talking with Tadao Ando, who is a world-renowned architect, in a speech given by Ando in Taipei. Without the talk, there would not be the birth of Asia Museum of Modern Art, which was designed and built by Master Ando and is said to be one of the most complicated works in architecture. “The exhibition will definitely be no less outstanding than those seen in other countries,” said Founder Tsai.
As the chief planning director, Hsun Chiang said that the exhibition of Degas’ works was held in the US in 2011; it is now being held in the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art in Japan and about to close in December this year. He also mentioned that it is just the right time for Asia Museum of Modern Art to catch up, and that the exhibition not only provides the public a close look at the sculptures but also shows the pursuit for beauty that the Taichung City is working on. “Synchronizing with the world has always been the goal of the Taichung City and Asia University,” said Chiang.
The Director of the museum, Mei-ling Li, said that Edgar Degas was born in a wealthy banker family in Paris. He was an Impressionism painter who was influenced by Edouard Manet’s paintings and paid extreme attention to the daily life of the ordinary people in the contemporary city. His paintings, including topics of ballet dancer, laundry woman, stock market, cotton exchange market, etc., recorded the history, industry, society, people and spirit of his time. His natural and realistic style on sculptures was praised by Renoir. People in his time regarded him as one of the most important sculptors in the 19th century. Degas’ works inspired the artists in his era, leading to the birth of Cubism and Futurism. The most renowned work is the “Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer” which was first exhibited in 1881. Wearing a real ballet skirt, a pair of shoes, and some ribbons on the hair, the sculpture is amazing with its vivid life of an ordinary person and becomes a chief attraction of the exhibition at the museum. The exhibition hall is designed by the famous architect Rui-Xian Chen and art designer Jun-Liang Chen. Displayed on the walls of the hall are posters about Degas’ biography and paintings of ballet dancers, jumping horses, nude women in the bath, etc. It was announced by the museum that an authentic oil painting borrowed from the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art will be exhibited as well in June next year, and that the first 10,000 people visiting the exhibition will be given a gift, a little dancer windmill. This excellent exhibition definitely will be a milestone of Asia Museum, and will be a great help to the art education of Asia University to students!
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