The Magazine Antiques

February 9, 2010  |  The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900 is a beautiful and engaging study of the private worlds of Paris, London, and Berlin depicted in the visual arts. Organized by the National Gallery of Art, and opening this week at the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago, the exhibition and its catalogue offer a unique view of the urban landscape and interior in the nineteenth century that—like its counterparts in literature and philosophy—emphasizes the solitary and introspective life over the frequently depicted scenes of cosmopolitan boulevards and cafes. In the introductory essay to the catalogue the curator Peter Parshall explains that the title is meant as a paradoxical play on different levels—among them references to Paris as the City of Light, and the birthplace of impressionism.

Exploring eight themes—possession, nature, the city, creatures, reverie, obsession, abjection, violence, and death—The Darker Side of Light includes some 120 drawings, prints, illustrated books, and small sculptures, which are primarily drawn from the National Gallery's own collection. Works by several key impressionists are included, such as Cassatt, Degas, and Tissot, though their familiar iconography has been abandoned in favor of dark interiors and melancholy figures that, alongside the masterful etchings of Albert Besnard and Max Klinger, produce a striking image of this unseen world. The role of print portfolios, low-relief plaques, and statuettes, which were meant to be displayed privately, is emphasized in each of the catalogue's essays, providing a material context for these intimate works that further illuminates their subject matter.

Moonlight by Edvard Munch, 1895 (National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection)

Woman with a Vase by Albert Besnard, 1894 (National Gallery of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bell, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art )

Woman by a Fireplace by Edward Degas, 1880/1890 (National Gallery of Art, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon)

The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900 is published by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with Lund Humphries, 2009, hardcover, 192 pp., $50. It is available for purchase from the National Gallery here.