In the Opera Box

Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro experimented with different intaglio printmaking techniques in preparation for the publication of Le Jour et La Nuit (Day and Night), a collaborative Impressionist print journal planned for release in 1880 but that was ultimately never realized. Cassatt employed this drawing as part of the soft-ground etching process to transfer her image of a woman at the opera to a copperplate for further development. After laying a tacky etching ground on the copperplate, the artist placed this sheet on top of it. She then retraced her drawing with a stylus or a graphite pencil, pulling up the ground where the implement touched the page. When the plate was placed in the etching bath, the acid bit into the exposed areas, creating a print that mimics the texture of drawn lines.