Mary Cassatt kijkt naar schilderijen in het Louvre 1879 - 1880

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to this print by Edgar Degas, made between 1879 and 1880. It's called "Mary Cassatt kijkt naar schilderijen in het Louvre"—"Mary Cassatt looking at paintings in the Louvre." Editor: Immediately, there’s a hushed intimacy about it, isn’t there? It feels like a stolen moment, a glimpse of private contemplation within a very public space. All in murky grays and blacks—evoking the solitude and introspection of observing art. Curator: Precisely. And note the clever composition. Degas gives us Cassatt’s back, her gaze directed towards unseen masterpieces within the Louvre. There’s a second figure almost hidden in the shadows next to Cassatt. Degas is showing us something about women's experiences in public spaces. Editor: Yes, she is almost concealed. What intrigues me most is what she might be thinking. Her whole posture seems… guarded, or is it just deeply thoughtful? Degas captures her as a viewer—not a spectacle, which must have been radical. The etching technique lends such incredible textural depth— the fabrics, the walls... It adds to this atmosphere of something secretly observed. Curator: Absolutely. Degas had a long engagement with printmaking. Look closely, and you see how the inky, almost blurred lines really suggest the grand scale of the Louvre, the echo of footsteps, and the weight of artistic history. Think too about Cassatt herself: a woman artist within that history, within those very halls! Editor: I find myself wondering about the unseen masterpieces. What are they looking at, and does their encounter shift something in how they think or feel, how they exist in their surroundings? How we exist? I also wonder if Cassatt liked how she was depicted— such an understated image, away from the gilded glamour and attention she probably navigated every day. Curator: That’s the genius, isn’t it? Degas gives us access to the hidden observer. We ponder art and our reactions to it, while also being reminded about access and experience. Editor: It does make one reflect, it’s not merely about seeing but truly about the encounter between ourselves and art. A very quiet and rather wonderful proposition.