In the Salon (c. 1880s): Art, History and Details

In the Salon (c. 1880s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Edgar Degas's series of monotypes depicting brothels depicted a hidden aspect of Parisian life. Degas's interest in the subject paralleled the theme of the prostitute in naturalist novels of the era by Emile Zola and Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, and echoed the then-contemporary debate about the regulation—or abolition—of prostitution in Paris. In this print, three women await their clients under a luminous globed chandelier. A standing figure reaches out her left arm as if to beckon an unseen visitor.

Object facts

• Title: In the Salon
• Date: c. 1880s
• Creator attribution: Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: monotype
• Dimensions: Sheet: 24.5 x 18.8 cm (9 5/8 x 7 3/8 in.); Image: 11.9 x 16 cm (4 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Monotype
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1977.44

A detail from the museum

Edgar Degas's series of brothel monotypes was never exhibited during his lifetime and remained in the privacy of the artist's studio until his death.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lockhart, Anne I. “Three Monotypes by Edgar Degas.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 9 (November 1977): 299–306.
• Pickvance, Ronald. Degas 1879. Exh. Cat. Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland, 1979.
• Glaubinger, Jane. “Unique Prints. The museum collection contains a wealth of monotypes, one-off prints that embody creative exploration.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 55, no. 3 (May/June 2015): 6-8.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.