Hats in Impressionist art
“At the Milliner (Chez la Modiste),” c. 1882-98. by Edgar Degas.
Paintings by the Impressionist Degas depict an emerging middle class during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, for whom hats were statements of wealth and status. Hats indeed tell us much about turn-of-the-century history, not only in Paris, but also in the United States, where Paris styles were often copied.
“This was a time of growing wealth,” said Shannon Meyer of the Missouri History Museum. “The hats were just kind of the icing on the cake of your outfit ... a great way to show off how much money you had.”
A new exhibition, “Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade” (currently at the St. Louis Art Museum, before moving to San Francisco), features about 115 works by Degas and other Impressionists capturing the fashion of hats.
"Self-Portrait"
An 1857 self-portrait of Edgar Degas.
Degas is probably best known for his scenes featuring dancers. But there has never been a Degas exhibition on the theme of millinery, which figures so prominently in his works and those of other French artists of the period.
"The Milliners"
“The Milliners” (c.1898) by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas. Saint Louis Art Museum.
The exhibition “Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade” features about 115 works by Degas and other Impressionists.
"The Millinery Shop"
According to Simon Kelly, who co-curated the exhibition, Degas was fascinated by modern Parisian life, and milliners were a central part of that. “There are a thousand milliners in Paris in 1900,” he told CBS News’ Rita Braver.
"At the Milliner's"
“Chez la Modiste” (c. 1905-1910) by Edgar Degas. Pastel on paper. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
And so Degas made frequent trips to observe the women who shopped and worked in the hat-making district near his Montmartre studio.
"The Millinery Shop"
“The Millinery Shop“ (1879-1886) by Edgar Degas. Oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection.
A wide range of hat styles is shown in this work, which de-emphasizes the background, making the millinery and the woman handling them the primary focus.
"Woman Holding a Hat in Her Hand"
“Woman Holding a Hat in Her Hand” (c. 1885) by Edgar Degas. Pastel on paper. Private collection.
"Woman Adjusting Her Hair"
“Woman Adjusting Her Hair” (c. 1884) by Edgar Degas. Charcoal, chalk, and pastel on buff wove paper. The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London.
This misleadingly-titled work actually shows a woman adjusting a hat in front of a mirror, as seen from behind - a study similar to an 1884 painting.
"Young Woman in Black (Portrait of Madame J)"
“Young Woman in Black (Portrait of Madame J),“ an 1883 work by American Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). Oil on canvas. The Peabody Art Collection.
The subject (possibly Cassatt’s sister-in-law) wears a veiled, plumed hat, and is seated beneath an 1879 Degas painting, “Fan Mount: Ballet Girls,” which the artist has gifted Cassatt.
"The Milliner"
“The Milliner” (c. 1879) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919). Pastel on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection.
The painting shows a junior-level apprentice (a trottin or trotteuse) delivering hats to customers.
"Paris, rue du Havre"
“Paris, rue du Havre” (1882) by Jean Béraud (1849-1935). Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington/Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection.
On the right is the Printemps department store, a fashionable feature of Parisian life from 1865. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1881; this painting shows the store, covered with scaffolding and colorful posters, being rebuilt.
Hats
The exhibition includes more than three dozen women’s and men’s hats, dating from the 1860s to the 1910s, which are displayed among paintings that complement the style or period.
“We did want to make some connections between the hats themselves and the paintings,” curator SImon Kelly said.
Woman’s Hat
Pictured: Woman’s Hat, c. 1910, by Madame Georgette. Black silk lace, cotton flowers and leaves on a wire frame. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Madame Georgette, who was active between 1900 and 1925, was known for her “picture hats” - highly-decorated adornments with wide brims that were to be worn at the back of the head. Unlike other fashions, her wide brims didn’t change with the season, leading some to refer to her hats as “cartwheels.”
"Young Girl on the Grass, Mlle. Isabelle Lambert"
“Young Girl on the Grass, Mlle. Isabelle Lambert” (1885) by Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). Oil on canvas. Ordrupgaard Museum.
Woman’s Hat
Woman’s Hat, c. 1910, by the Guillard Sisters. Straw with ostrich feathers, silk lace and artificial flowers. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
"At the Milliner's"
“At the Milliner’s” (1881) by Édouard Manet (1832-1883). Oil on canvas. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Mildred Anna Williams Collection.
Historians have argued whether Manet’s revealing portrait shows a milliner casually working out of her home (as many milliners turned their residences into showrooms), or whether it signals a millinery shop that doubled as a house of prostitution.
"M. Delaporte at the Jardin de Paris"
“M. Delaporte at the Jardin de Paris” (1893) by Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Gouache on cardboard, glued to wood. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.
Monsieur Delaporte, the director of an advertising company, is shown wearing the latest fashion in men’s hats - a silk plush top hat with high crown and narrow brim. Women in the background are also elegantly adorned.
"The Shop Girl"
The viewer’s perspective is that of a customer exiting a haberdashery as a shop girl holds open the door, in “The Shop Girl” (1883-85) by James Joseph Jacques Tissot (1836-1902). Oil on canvas. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
For more info:
“Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade” at the St. Louis Art Museum (through May 7, 2017)
“Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade” at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco (June 24-September 24, 2017)
Exhibition catalogue available in hardcover and trade paperback
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan