Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs (1877–78): Art, History and Details

Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs (1877–78) 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:

This vivid scene of a performance by the famed chanteuse Emilie Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs captures the spectacle and excitement of the outdoor café-concert in late 19th-century Paris. Here, the spotlighted singer performs her frenzied, comic dance, with arms raised and fingers splayed, in her trademark style épileptique.

Object facts

• Title: Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs
• Date: 1877–78
• Creator attribution: Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: lithograph
• Dimensions: Image: 20.8 x 19.5 cm (8 3/16 x 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 34.3 x 27.1 cm (13 1/2 x 10 11/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2007.194

A detail from the museum

This print is one of several works Degas made depicting Mademoiselle Bécat based on his fascination with the culture of Parisian café-concerts.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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.