'Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander' by James Abbott McNeill Whistler is part of a new exhibit, on view at The Phillips Collection, that explores the dialogue between the great painters in Britain and France in the late 1800s.

This bronze sculpture with touches of tulle and silk, on view at The Phillips Collection, was created by French artist Edgar Degas. Born in Paris in 1834, Degas is known for his representations of ballerinas and race horses.

A new exhibit at The Phillips Collection in Washington, featuring the works of Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec, sheds light on the relationship of artists in London and Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.

Date published: 2/23/2006

By SHEILA WICKOUSKI

For THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Our own age is so crowded with fast-breaking events that what was going on in Europe in 1870 has long been buried.

The Franco-Prussian war ended in an overwhelming defeat of France by Bismarck's Germany. The relationships between the nations that would be the key players on the battlefield of the 20th century were taking shape.

After the war, the French were less likely to think of England, with its growing supremacy in finance and industry, as the enemy. Thus the stage was set for modern Europe and for the dialogue among artists working in both London and Paris. This is the basis of a new exhibit at The Phillips Collection in Washington.

The vitality and creativity that existed in these modern epicenters allowed the artists and dealers to move back and forth between the two capital cities and to benefit from the opulent society.

The Phillips exhibit focuses on three of these artists--Edgar Degas, Walter Richard Sickert and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec--and suggests the possible dialogue that existed among them.

Works by other artists, notably James Tissot, William Rothenstein, James McNeill Whistler, Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, as well as dozens of others, are interspersed throughout the show.

However it is not the exploration of the web of artistic influences that holds the viewers' interest. What captures the mind is the human quality of these works, so refreshing and stimulating in comparison with the highly stylized pieces that were products of the academic salons that existed prior to this time.

The exhibit includes a display of wealth, as in Tissot's "The Ball on Shipboard," which shows an elegant boating party on the Thames. There also are a roomful of portraits of "the dandy," an artificial creature who aspired to verbal wit and leisure hobbies as a means of maintaining his social distinction.

But another theme emerges, as well--more sensational for the time and epitomizing decadence. Degas' "L'Absinthe," with its "degraded types," was highly criticized for its portrayal of the underside of wealth and urbanization. A couple in a Parisian cafe are the picture of numbness, in a drunken stupor induced by potent green alcohol.

WHAT: Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris, 1870-1910 WHERE: The Phillips Collection, 21st and Q streets, N.W., Washington WHEN: The exhibit will run through May 14. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon- 7 p.m.; and Thursday evenings, 5-8:30. COST: Adults $9, ages 62 and older and students $7, members and those under age 18 admitted free. TICKETS: Available at the museum by calling 800/551-SEAT or at ticketmaster.com. INFO: 202/387-2151, phillipscollection.org

Date published: 2/23/2006