Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery

Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery by Edgar Degas, created between 1879 and 1880, is a masterful example of late 19th-century French printmaking. This significant work was realized through a complex combination of technical approaches, including softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and standard etching. The resulting print demonstrates Degas's experimental approach to the medium, allowing for varied textures and depths of tone that mimic the qualities of drawing.

The subject captures the American artist Mary Cassatt, a colleague and friend of Degas, examining artifacts within the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The scene provides an intimate glimpse into the working life of a female artist, simultaneously focusing on Cassatt’s intellectual engagement with classical art and Degas's characteristic interest in candid, unposed moments. The atmosphere of the gallery, likely the Musée Charles X displaying Etruscan funerary urns and sarcophagi, is rendered with dramatic contrast. Cassatt, depicted from behind, is fully absorbed in her study, leaning on an umbrella or cane.

Degas created this print in a relatively short period, shortly before he abandoned his involvement with large-scale print portfolios. This delicate work remains an important record of the Impressionist circle’s shared commitment to exploring new artistic techniques and depicting modern urban and intellectual life. Today, this key Impressionist print is held in the renowned collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is often studied as a preparatory exploration for potential painting subjects.