Actresses in their Dressing Rooms 1879 - 1880

Edgar Degas made this print, Actresses in their Dressing Rooms, using etching, a process intimately linked to industrial production. To make an etching, a metal plate is coated in wax, then scratched with a needle to expose the metal. The plate is submerged in acid, which bites into the exposed lines, creating grooves. The plate is inked, the surface wiped clean, and then run through a press. The image is transferred to paper with tremendous pressure, and the incised lines of the image take on a tactile depth, a physical weight. Note the velvety blacks and the fine web of lines: the way Degas has exploited this process to create a contrast between the public image of the actresses, and a sense of them as tired, backstage, almost abject. There is a grittiness to the composition that speaks to a world of labor, and of gendered expectations. Etching allows for the production of multiple images from one plate, democratizing art in a way that painting never could. In this work, the means of production carries a social meaning, reflecting the changing world that Degas inhabited and represented.