Artwork Page for Actresses in Their Dressing Rooms

Details / Information for Actresses in Their Dressing Rooms

Actresses in Their Dressing Rooms

1879–80

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
Culture
France
Medium
etching and aquatint on Arches laid paper
Measurements
Platemark: 15.9 x 21 cm (6 1/4 x 8 1/4 in.); Sheet: 21.6 x 30.5 cm (8 1/2 x 12 in.)
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2023.155
Catalogue raisonné
Delteil 28; Adhémar 31; Stern and Shapiro 50
State
State V
Impression
14 known impressions
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

This print is one of several that Edgar Degas created by etching and printing a plate typically used to create daguerreotypes—a form of early photography.

Description

Although best-known for colorful paintings and pastels depicting the Paris of his time, Edgar Degas was simultaneously an incredibly innovative printmaker. Created during the artist’s most prolific period in etching, this print depicts two actresses preparing for a performance in adjoining dressing rooms. Degas used the walls, curtains, and artificial lighting within the space to create a dense and mazelike composition.
A horizontally oriented etching and aquatint on cream paper depicts three vertical sections. On our left, a woman with light skin tone stands with her back turned, arms raised as she adjusts long dark hair. A central panel features a large dark shadow cast against a wall. To our right, another woman with light skin tone is visible through a doorway near a bright light. Grainy aquatint textures the patterned curtains framing the scenes.

Actresses in Their Dressing Rooms

1879–80

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
France

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