Conversation: Ludovic Halévy and Madame Cardinal, by Degas (1880, c.)

Conversation: Ludovic Halévy and Madame Cardinal, by Degas (1880, c.)

Degas, Edgar (1834–1917)

1880, c.

The illustration is part of a series of more than 30 monotypes that Degas did for Ludovic Halévy's La Famille Cardinal.
Description of the book and illustration:
"The satirical stories revolve around two young dancers at the Opéra, Pauline and Virginie Cardinal, and their procuress mother. In late 19th-century Paris, the ballet was the profession of lower-class girls and young women who were available for sexual hire. Here, in the opening scene, Halévy, the first-person narrator, meets with Madame Cardinal in the coulisses (wings) of the Opéra to arrange for a private rendezvous with one of her daughters. The dancers, whose sexual availability is the subtext of the composition, are conspicuously absent." (Description from The Cleveland Museum of Art: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.167, Archived in: https://web.archive.org/web/20220812034734/https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1967.167)

Monotype, platemark.
Dimensions: 25.5 × 17.8 cm