The Actress Ellen Andrée 1879

Curator: Ah, I am immediately drawn to the delicacy of line and the airy, ethereal quality of this print. Editor: We are observing Edgar Degas' etching from 1879, "The Actress Ellen Andrée," a piece currently residing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Degas' prints capture modern life with a singular vision, and Andrée was one of his favorite models. Curator: I am interested in what her being an actress may mean for her portrayal in this picture. How does the etching itself perform as an art object and, further, a representation of this young, female entertainer in the theatrical public of Paris? The details in her elaborate dress invite that exploration. Editor: Semiotically speaking, the details of her dress are quite complex and I agree, culturally important. What about Degas' medium itself, etching? It feels very suited for portraiture. Curator: Absolutely. The etched line allows Degas to delineate form while still leaving space for nuance. Consider how he renders her dress in contrast to her coat. We have a sense of pattern, of detailed fabrics, even if every single stitch isn't defined. What readings are available to us with the tension he generates between surface appearance, gender roles, celebrity, and the psychological interiority of this person, a French entertainer in the nineteenth century? Editor: That tension mirrors the actress' public identity, I'd say. Is she accessible, or does the carefully applied social mask bar intimacy with the observer? But, if we are discussing tension, do you see the dramatic tension implicit between her defined, solid upper body and then her vaporous lower half? She emerges from a kind of nowhere, and maybe that indicates the artist’s investment in memory itself. Curator: A lovely suggestion. To be remembered is indeed what that actress must have desired, in this life and in the afterlife. Thank you for your consideration of those dramatic forces. Editor: It has been my pleasure to be here and parse some of the meanings apparent in this important work, "The Actress Ellen Andrée".