Cleveland Museum of Art

Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs

Edgar Degas

Date

1877–78

Medium

lithograph

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.