Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery - Edgar Degas
Archival giclée
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Description
A sophisticated etching by Edgar Degas depicting Mary Cassatt and her sister visiting the Louvre, capturing a quiet, candid moment of observation.
This work, titled 'Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery', captures a quiet moment between two women within the museum environment. Edgar Degas, a central figure in the Impressionist movement, frequently explored the intersection of public spaces and private observation. Here, he depicts his friend and fellow artist, Mary Cassatt, accompanied by her sister, Lydia. The composition is divided by the architecture of the display cases, which house the museum's collection of antiquities.
Degas employs a combination of etching, aquatint, and drypoint to achieve the atmospheric quality of the scene. The print is notable for its experimental use of tone and texture. One figure is seated, absorbed in a guidebook, while the other stands, leaning on an umbrella and gazing toward the exhibits. The interplay of light and shadow across the floor and the glass surfaces creates a sense of depth, despite the relatively compressed space. The figures are rendered with a focus on their posture and the silhouettes of their contemporary dress, reflecting the artist's interest in the casual, unposed nature of modern life.
This print belongs to a series of works Degas produced during his collaboration with Cassatt. It demonstrates his technical mastery of printmaking, particularly in his ability to manipulate the plate to create soft, painterly effects. The work avoids the formal conventions of traditional portraiture, opting instead for a candid perspective that invites the viewer to observe the act of looking itself. The muted palette and the focus on the mundane activities of museum visitors provide a glimpse into the social and artistic circles of late nineteenth-century Paris.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery - Edgar Degas
Artist Biography
Edgar Degas
More than half of his entire output depicts dancers. He became a fixture at the Paris Opera, watching from the wings and from boxes above the stage, sketching not the performance but the work behind it: the stretching, the waiting, the adjusting of shoes, the corrections from the ballet master. The backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.
In 1881, he exhibited Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a two-thirds life-size wax figure of Marie van Goethem, a real student at the Opera ballet school. She wore a real tutu, real ballet slippers, and a wig of human hair, all coated in wax. Critics called it repulsive. One described the girl as having a face marked by the hateful promise of every vice. Wax was a material for anatomical specimens, not art. It was the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. After his death, 150 more wax figures were found in his studio, many falling apart.
His eyesight began failing during the Franco-Prussian War. By his forties he had lost central vision. By fifty-seven he could not read. The deterioration drove him from fine brushwork to bolder strokes, then to pastels, then to sculpture he could work by touch. He avoided daylight and painted under controlled artificial light. Collectors joked they should chain their Degas paintings to the wall, because he would try to take them back to rework them. He compulsively revised everything.
He disliked being called an Impressionist. He preferred Realist or Independent. He never painted outdoors, which was supposedly the whole point of the movement. Despite this, he co-founded the group, organised their exhibitions, and showed in all eight. He said: there is love and there is art and we only have one heart. He never married.
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