Artwork Page for Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs

Details / Information for Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs

Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs

1877–78

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
lithograph
Support
Machine made wove paper
Measurements
Image: 20.8 x 19.5 cm (8 3/16 x 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 34.3 x 27.1 cm (13 1/2 x 10 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2007.194
Catalogue raisonné
Delteil 49; Adhémar 42, Reed and Shapiro 31
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This print is one of several works Degas made depicting Mademoiselle Bécat based on his fascination with the culture of Parisian café-concerts.

Description

This vivid scene of a performance by the famed chanteuse Emilie Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs captures the spectacle and excitement of the outdoor café-concert in late 19th-century Paris. Here, the spotlighted singer performs her frenzied, comic dance, with arms raised and fingers splayed, in her trademark style épileptique.
A vertically oriented lithograph depicts a woman with a pale skin tone singing with arms outstretched and palms upward. She wears a light-toned dress, positioned before a dark background. To the upper left, a large chandelier glows brightly. On the right, a tall lamppost and a row of white globes contrast with the deep shadows. Thin, scratched white lines and speckles streak across the dark sky, creating a sense of movement.

Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs

1877–78

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
France, 19th century

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