Mary Cassatt at the Louvre 1880

Editor: Edgar Degas’ "Mary Cassatt at the Louvre," made around 1880 in pastel and oil, is so evocative! There's a stillness, a kind of hushed reverence suggested by the two figures inside the museum. What draws your attention in this piece? Curator: Beyond the implied narrative, I'm struck by the materiality. Consider the production of pastels themselves in 19th century France - pigments carefully ground, mixed with a binder, and formed into sticks. Degas is depicting fellow female artist Mary Cassatt in a space traditionally dominated by men and immortalising the moment. But I see this also as Cassatt and Degas both engaging with a material exchange; as makers both complicit with and resisting a system of material exchange, the labour and context that gives rise to "art" in a particular time and place. What is this 'art' that's being consumed here, and how is it commodified? Editor: That's a fascinating angle! I hadn't really considered the making of the pastel sticks themselves as being integral to the piece's meaning. Are you suggesting the materials reflect something deeper about Cassatt's role as a female artist? Curator: Precisely. Think about the availability, access, and cost of these materials. The creation and subsequent consumption of the finished work positions both Degas and Cassatt within a network of social relations, conditioned by industrial capitalism. It makes me consider class, too; whose labor created these pigments? Editor: So, by examining the material aspects, we gain a deeper understanding of the socio-economic conditions in which Cassatt operated. That's something I'll definitely think about next time I'm in a museum! Curator: Exactly, seeing art this way invites critical engagement with the systems that make it possible, yesterday and today.