Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Discover Degas & Miss La La

Discover Degas & Miss La La

Robbins, Anne
Di Stefano, Chiara
Fierstein, Laurie

Paperback

Art HistoryGeneral ArtIndividual Artists

ISBN10: 1857097149
ISBN13: 9781857097146
Publisher: National Gallery London
Published: Feb 25 2025
Pages: 136
Weight: 1.30
Height: 0.53 Width: 7.90 Depth: 10.15
Language: English

The extraordinary story behind Degas's groundbreaking painting of the African-American 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 Albertine Olga Brown to a white Prussian mother and African-American 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the first in-depth study to focus on the sitter's identity, presenting new research on her life and career, as well as unpublished photographic material tracing her tour across Europe.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 Ltd/Distributed by Yale University Press

Also from

Robbins, Anne

View All

Also in

Individual Artists

View All