Lot Essay
Degas represented the full-bodied singer of the present work on a number of occasions: in three other pastels drawn on top of monotypes (Lemoisne, nos. 538, 539 and 541; Private Collections) and in at least two sketches (see T. Reff, op. cit., pp. 13 and 57). In all these works, Degas employs footlights at the edge of the stage to illuminate the singer's face and upper body; the direct bright lighting divides her face and body into areas of contrasted chiaroscuro, adding to the theatricality and drama of the image. The glowing, globe-shaped lights in the background are repeated in La chanson du chien (Lemoisne, no. 380; Private Collection), one of Degas's early pastel masterpieces.
According to Lemoisne, the singer in these pastels is identified as Mademoiselle Dumay. However, Shapiro has discovered that there was no singer by that name in Paris at the end of the nineteenth-century; he suggests that the woman's true identity must be Victorine Demay, a popular chanteuse around 1880.
Café-concerts were a new and immensely popular feature of night-life in Paris in the 1870s, especially during the summer at the outdoor cafés along the Champs-Elysées, such as the Alcazar-d'Eté and the Café des Ambassadeurs. The program for these concerts was typically divided into three parts, usually beginning with singers and comics. The audience was free to move about, and drinks were served during the performances. They attracted large crowds from a wide spectrum of the populace.
Degas was the first artist to make pastels on top of monotype prints. A monotype is made by drawing in printer's ink with a brush or rag on a metal plate, and then printing the plate on a sheet of dampened paper by passing it through a press. This technique permits only one or two prints to be made. Degas referred to the process as "dessin fait à l'encre et imprimé" (drawing made with greasy ink and then printed). Degas learned this process in 1876 from Ludovic Lepic, and soon used it extensively as the basis of his pastels.
According to Lemoisne, the singer in these pastels is identified as Mademoiselle Dumay. However, Shapiro has discovered that there was no singer by that name in Paris at the end of the nineteenth-century; he suggests that the woman's true identity must be Victorine Demay, a popular chanteuse around 1880.
Café-concerts were a new and immensely popular feature of night-life in Paris in the 1870s, especially during the summer at the outdoor cafés along the Champs-Elysées, such as the Alcazar-d'Eté and the Café des Ambassadeurs. The program for these concerts was typically divided into three parts, usually beginning with singers and comics. The audience was free to move about, and drinks were served during the performances. They attracted large crowds from a wide spectrum of the populace.
Degas was the first artist to make pastels on top of monotype prints. A monotype is made by drawing in printer's ink with a brush or rag on a metal plate, and then printing the plate on a sheet of dampened paper by passing it through a press. This technique permits only one or two prints to be made. Degas referred to the process as "dessin fait à l'encre et imprimé" (drawing made with greasy ink and then printed). Degas learned this process in 1876 from Ludovic Lepic, and soon used it extensively as the basis of his pastels.