Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burrell, The National Gallery, London: 20 September 2017 – 7 May 2018

For the first time since the 20th Century, William Burrell’s Degas collection has been put on display in London. The National Gallery has borrowed 20 pastel works from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and added their own pieces, as well as loans from elsewhere, to put together the ultimate Degas exhibition 100 years after the artist’s death.

Degas really stood out from his contemporaries because he experimented with different materials and ended up favouring pastel. His pastel paintings are bold and dynamic, and you can see what he meant when he said he wanted to capture movement in his art. Of course, you will find the ballerinas he’s so well-known for, but you can also see another side to Degas’s vision of Paris. He may have been inspired by the women on stage, but he was also captivated by the everyday life of people ironing or applying makeup. The exhibition gives a real mix of the highs and lows of modern Parisian life.

Divided into the three sections of Modern Life, Dancers, and Private Worlds, the exhibition has something from every period of Degas’s career. Of the 20 Burrell images, there are 13 pastels, three drawings, and four oil paintings, spread amongst other work. There is also information on William Burrell, as he was once the owner of one of the best Degas collections in the world.

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN

Opening times

Saturday – Thursday: 10:00 - 18:00
Friday: 10:00 - 21:00