George William Thornley made a name for himself when, at 24, he produced an album of color lithographs after François Boucher's drawings that was widely considered the finest series of reproductive lithographs to date. His notoriety grew as the Salons of 1884, 1885 and 1888 each included his lithographic reproductions of paintings by Puvis de Chavannes.

In 1888 Thornley was commissioned to do Quinze lithographies d'après Degas. When several of these works were exhibited at Boussod and Valadon's gallery (where Theo van Gogh was director), the French critic Félix Fénéon commented on how successfully the lithographs "...through their sparse and essential eloquence, evoke the originals." In fact this series represents a fascinating and significant collaboration between Degas and Thornley. Degas apparently both chose the paintings and pastels for Thornley's lithographic translation and then took an active interest in overseeing the quality of the prints themselves.