Café Singer 1879

Edgar Degas made this painting of a café singer using pastels, and the medium is key to how the image comes across. Pastels are interesting: halfway between drawing and painting, they’re pure pigment, compressed into sticks. That makes them great for capturing a sense of immediacy. Look at the singer’s gloved hand, the way it almost vibrates against the background. Or the patches of red, which suggest both her open mouth and the decoration on her dress. Degas is using the pastel almost like a pointing device, directing our attention. This wasn’t just a technical choice. The cafe singer was a new phenomenon in late 19th century Paris, part of an exploding culture of mass entertainment. Degas is showing us the singer as a kind of commodity, presented for our consideration. It’s a modern image of labor, but also of leisure, all captured in a very modern medium. So, next time you walk past a street performer, think of Degas and his pastels, and how he captured the fleeting moment of performance.