Louise Siddons

co-author of Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist

February 4, 2012

Currently Assistant Professor of American, Modern and Contemporary Art History in the Art Department at Oklahoma State University, Louise Siddons received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2005. Formerly assistant curator of works on paper at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and a lecturer at San Francisco State University, Siddons is currently working on a book manuscript entitled The Future of the American Race: Reproduction in the Racialized Nation, 1925-1940. Other research interests include contemporary artists' engagement with the history of photography as well as continuing studies in early-twentieth-century American modernism. Active as an independent curator and critic, Siddons is the curator of the OSU Art Collection, a 1500-object collection that is global in scope and includes works created from the 17th through the 21st century. In this capacity she has organized exhibitions of African art, contemporary works on paper, and site-specific student installations.

The great French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) once said, "I would like to be illustrious and unknown." To a large degree, his wish has been granted. By the time of Degas' death, more than ninety years ago, his art had become famous; his reputation since then has only grown. Yet the individual who was so accomplished in many artistic endeavors-from drawing, painting, and printmaking to sculpture and photography-has remained elusive. Degas was arguably the keenest artistic observer of human nature since Rembrandt. And, although often aloof to strangers, Degas shared warmth and loyalty with his family as well as with a wide circle of friends, which included some of the greatest writers and artists of the epoch. This exhibition includes over 50 works by Degas alongside over forty works by artists in his personal collection and artistic circle. These works have never before been exhibited together publicly and provide a delightful exploration into the art and personality of one of the most skilled, intelligent, and complex artists in the history of art.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2012-honorees/louise-siddons

Last Updated: 12 January 2022