Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) The Millinery Shop, ca. 1882–86 Oil on canvas; 39 3/8 x 43 5/8 in. (100 x 110.7 cm) The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection. Source: metmuseum.org
With New York City’s favorite annual celebration of chapeau artistry, otherwise known as the Annual Easter Parade & Bonnet Festival, this Sunday, it seems the perfect time to take a look at Impressionism, Fashion & Modernity at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition contemplates the meaningful relationship between fashion and art in the works of the Impressionists from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s. While Degas, Monet, Manet and their contemporaries were turning their exquisite eyes towards the stylish society of Paris, the upper crust ladies of New York City were birthing their own tradition.
The Easter Parade & Bonnet Festival was inspired by the regal Sunday best promenaded by high society women after church. Today, the Festival is a celebration of the playful, gorgeous, and avant-garde in a way the impressionists “who sought to give expression to the pulse of modern life in all its nuanced richness” would have reveled in. The best place to see the procession of groundbreaking millinery this Sunday, March 31, is (as it was in the mid-19th century) around St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 10AM-4PM. Impressionism, Fashion & Modernity is on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 26-May 27, 2013.
