Degas at the Opéra, The Ballet Master, c. 1876

KAYWIN FELDMAN: The ballet master stands at left instructing a single ballerina. All background distractions are stripped away. This is Degas’s first experiment in monotype. Paper conservator Kimberly Schenck explains the process. KIMBERLY SCHENCK: Monotypes are made by painting oil paint or dilute printing ink onto a smooth metal plate. While the ink is still moist, a sheet of paper is placed on top and both the plate and the paper are run through an etching press, which transfers the image to the paper. KAYWIN FELDMAN: The technique is called monotype because it produces a unique image. An artist could create one good impression, and maybe a second, slightly fainter one from the plate. Degas made adjustments in the ink before the print was made. KIMBERLY SCHENCK: Degas used the end of a brush or another tool to draw the strong outlines, depicting the master’s stick and coat and the dancer’s legs. KAYWIN FELDMAN: He also added more ink where too much had been removed. Look around the figure of the ballerina to see Degas’s most visible corrections. KIMBERLY SCHENCK: The round circles of ink at the center of the right edge and below the dancer’s feet are from where Degas added ink with his fingertips. Later, white chalk or white pastel was rubbed onto areas to lighten them, such as in the dancer’s skirt and parts of the background. KAYWIN FELDMAN: Degas didn’t create this large work alone. He had help from the engraver Ludovic Lepic. In the upper left corner, we see their scrawled signatures, which they had to do backwards on the plate to account for the reversal in the print. Degas often used his monotypes as a base for more complex compositions, drawing or painting on top of the print.