Manet/Degas: To Photograph Or To See

Collectif : Manet/Degas : Catalogue. Gallimard/Musée d'Orsay. Édition publiée sous la direction de Laurence Des Cars, Stéphane Guégan et Isolde Pludermacher. Livres d'Art, Gallimard, 2023. Chez Manet et Degas, figures essentielles de la modernité des années 1860-1880, les analogies ne manquent pas, qu’il s’agisse des sujets qu’ils imposent, des genres qu’ils réinventent ou encore des cercles où ils se croisent. Ce qui les différencie, voire les oppose, est tout aussi marquant. À la sociabilité ouverte de Manet répond l’entourage restreint de Degas. Leurs convictions politiques ne s’expriment pas de la même manière, et leurs choix en matière d’exposition et de carrière sont source de dissensions, malgré l’amitié qui les lie. Cet ouvrage, qui confronte les chefs-d’œuvre de Manet et de Degas dans un dialogue inédit, nous invite ainsi à renouveler notre regard sur l’éphémère complicité et la durable rivalité de ces deux géants. 272 pages, ill., sous couverture illustrée, 240 x 288 mm. ISBN : 9782073013057.

AA: This blog note is my third commentary on the syndrome of photographing artworks at museums, a follow-up to:
"Le Louvre: To Photograph Or To See" (2014) and
"Musée d'Orsay: To Photograph Or To See" (March 2023).

Musée d'Orsay is a wonderful place for photo opportunities. The magnificent architecture offers many excellent alternatives for group photographs. They help sustain happy memories and provide tremendous publicity for Musée d'Orsay. I have nothing but praise for this. The following critical remarks are only about photographing artworks in exhibitions.

The Manet/Degas exhibition offers me the privilege to actually see with my own eyes many of the most profoundly moving artworks ever made. Many are familiar since childhood from high quality illustrations in art books. But this is the real thing at last, lovingly selected from several museums and collections.

I have found the current trend of photographing artworks in exhibitions goofy. The phenomenon in vernissages of journalists rushing through the show while snapping photographs as fast as they can is particularly comic.

Musée d'Orsay lifted its ban of visitors photographing artworks in 2015. The turning-point was l'affaire Pellerin, and quickly the habit has become hugely popular. Today, on my third visit into the museum in March-April 2023, the relentless photographing feels increasingly disruptive.

In cinemas, electronic devices are banned during screenings, because the bright illumination of the display disturbs the viewing for everybody exposed to the dazzling light.

The lighting downstairs at the Manet/Degas exhibition is at times so dim (to protect pastels) that the bright illumination of the mobile phones is overwhelming.

I would like Musée d'Orsay to introduce photograph-free hours for its exhibitions for those visitors who would prefer to focus on artworks.

A side effect of the ubiquitous photographing is that the quality of the exhibition catalogs suffers. Perhaps visitors no longer buy catalogs like before, and there are no longer sufficient resources to provide high quality illustrations.

Photo: Reuters/Charles Platiau. From: Adam Epstein: Technology : Coup d'état : "Photography is now welcome at Paris’s Musée d’Orsay (but selfie sticks are still banned)", Quartz, 19 March 2015.