The Engraver Joseph Tourny (Le graveur Joseph Tourny)

The Engraver Joseph Tourny (Le graveur Joseph Tourny) by Edgar Degas, executed in 1857, is an important early example of the artist’s dedicated work in printmaking. This delicate work is a portrait rendered through the precise technique of etching on laid paper, a medium Degas revisited throughout his long career. The print depicts Joseph Tourny, a contemporary engraver and a professional acquaintance of the young artist, positioning this piece firmly within the tradition of academic French portraiture that Degas studied intensely during the period 1851 to 1875.

This etching reflects Degas’s early commitment to mastering the foundational skills of draughtsmanship. The lines used are controlled and fine, focusing the viewer’s attention entirely on the subject’s face and expression. Unlike the spontaneous experimentation found in Degas’s later Monotypes and lithographs, this 1857 print is reserved and traditional, demonstrating the artist’s solid classical training. The choice to portray an engraver in this medium underscores the collaborative and technical environment of mid-19th-century Parisian artistic life.

Created when Degas was roughly twenty-three years old, this piece stands as vital documentary evidence of his formative years, demonstrating the roots from which his revolutionary Impressionist style would emerge. The preservation of these prints allows scholars to trace his technical evolution beyond his well-known paintings and pastels. This historically significant work is currently held in the prestigious collection of the National Gallery of Art. As a major work from the French print tradition of the mid-nineteenth century, high-quality images of this early Degas print are often available in the public domain for academic research and study.