Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Edgar Degas (1834-1917) both played a pivotal role in the birth of modern painting from the 1860s to the 1880s. Before and after the advent of Impressionism, which the exhibition looks at in a new light, what differentiated or opposed them is perhaps more striking than the similarities in their approach to modern subjects - horse races, cafés, prostitution or modern bathers. From dissimilar backgrounds and with different temperaments, they did not share the same tastes in literature and music. Their divergent choices in terms of exhibitions and career cooled the friendship that bound them – a friendship initially strengthened by their shared experience of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the aftermath of the Commune.

The quest for official recognition of Manet contrasts with the stubborn refusal of Degas to show in the Paris Salon. Manet's brilliant sociability also contrasts with Degas' reticence and taciturn temperament. Yet there was always and despite their differences a deep bond between the two artists which is revealed by the importance of Manet’s work in Degas’ personal art collection.

This exhibition in which masterpieces by both artists have been brought together for the first time, is organized by the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art where it will be presented from September 2023 to January 2024.