EDGAR DEGAS

(1834-1917)
Mary Cassat at the Louvre, Musče des Antiques

Etching & aquatint
26.6 x 23.1
P.481
The figures of Degas’ long-standing friend, the American painter, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) with her sister, Lydia, are seen from the back as they observe an Etruscan statue in the Louvre.  Cassatt came to Paris in 1866 to study art and was greatly influenced by Degas’ style.  She herself recorded that she posed for the standing figure on the right. Based on an earlier pastel drawing of them in the picture gallery of the same museum, this composition is also one of Degas’ most celebrated representations of women and one to which he attached particular importance, choosing it for public exhibition on a number of occasions.

Degas was fascinated by new inventions and experimented ceaselessly with a variety of printing techniques. In this case, he adopts aquatint and carbon rod (or electric crayon) for a tonal and grainy effect. The development of photography had a significant influence on art at this time, particularly the idea of the snapshot, which was used by artists like Degas as an effective means of recording people behaving naturally ‘as if you looked through a key hole’ (Degas).  The journal for which this print was produced was never realised. 

Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.

Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .
 

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