Rembrandt and Degas: Two Young Artists, at the Clark Art Institute

Edgar Degas, Self-Portrait, c. 1857–1858, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 26 x 19.1 cm, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Sponsored jointly by the Clark Art Institute and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, this small exhibition of prints and paintings by Rembrandt and Degas opens with Degas' assertion that "What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters."

One of the marvelous things Degas learned from them is that new art need not always look like old art, that the great masters often were consummate experimenters developing entirely new kinds of imagery. Indeed Degas is well-known for his pastels of dancers, which often involve mark-making and composing methods that veer far away from the academic traditions of his early training.

This new show reveals a young Degas at a time of transition between traditions (French Academic versus Dutch Realist), revealing much about how Degas navigated the two. It's a lovely, outstanding small show.

The show is worth a visit if for no other reason than to see four small self-portrait paintings that are astonishingly beautiful, precise, reserved in their use of color and radical in their use of light.