Edgar Degas meets James Abbott McNeill Whistler in the work of Walter Sickert. Born in Munich in 1860, raised in England from the age of 8, Sickert was educated at King’s College School, spent a few years acting, and then took up painting. He studied first with Whistler, and then in Paris took guidance from Degas. In the early 1900s, Sickert rose to prominence in London, a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionists. His paintings are somber, urban, and unafraid of base truth—hence his “Camden Town Murder” series of four paintings, their subject a prostitute whose throat was slit in 1907. Indeed, Sickert was fascinated by Jack the Ripper, and some took this to mean that Sickert himself might be Jack. Sickert is not well represented in French collections, even though he was deeply influenced by French art and artists. This exhibition, jointly organized by Tate Britain and the Petit Palais, Paris Musées, is the first on the artist in 60 years. It explores Sickert’s enigmatic persona and his many innovations. —Elena Clavarino