Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery
1879–80
Medium
Soft-ground, drypoint, aquatint, and etching; third state of nine
Dimensions
Plate: 10 9/16 x 9 1/8 in. (26.8 x 23.2 cm) Sheet: 17 x 12 in. (43.2 x 30.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1919
Accession Number
19.29.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 19th-century Paris with Edgar Degas's *Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery (1879–80), a intimate print capturing his close friend and fellow Impressionist, the American artist Mary Cassatt. Here, Cassatt is depicted deep in contemplation, sketching amid the ancient Etruscan antiquities of the Louvre Museum. This tender portrait reflects the era's vibrant art scene, where women like Cassatt boldly navigated male-dominated spaces, blending everyday modernity with classical reverence. Degas masterfully employed advanced printmaking techniques—soft-grou...
About the Artist
Edgar Degas|Mary Cassatt · 1834–1917
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) stands as one of the most innovative artists of the nineteenth century, whose distinctive vision transformed how modern life could be depicted on canvas. Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas in Paris to a wealthy banking family—his father French, his mother a Louisiana Creole from New Orleans—Degas received a classical education before abandoning law studies in 1855 to pursue ...