Edgar Degas exhibit comes to Petaluma in June

An exhibit including more than 40 drawings, prints, pastels and photographs by French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) from his early days is coming to the Petaluma Arts Center in June.

“Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle,” including more than 100 works in all, will run from June 20 through July 26 at the center.

The show also includes work by other artists in Degas’ circle, including Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Regarded as one of the founders of impressionism in the 19th-century, Degas preferred to be called a realist and has been called “the reluctant impressionist.”

The exhibition was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions in Los Angeles and Denenberg Fine Arts in Hollywood. The art is from the collection of Robert Flynn Johnson, curator emeritus of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

There will be a members-only preview June 18 at the Petaluma Arts Center, with a gala opening June 19. Tickets for the gala will be available for $100 each starting April 1 at brownpapertickets.com.

For information, 762-5600 or visit petalumaartscenter.org.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. Read his Arts blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.