Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub

Paris, 1863–1906

Edgar Degas

Woman Bathing in a Shallow Tub

1885

Charcoal and pastel on paper, 32 × 22 1/4 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Look at the lines that build the body: Degas draws with color, in strokes you can count.

Look at

  • Pastel, sticks of dry color, is laid on in hatched lines across the back.
  • Pale green and lilac touches on the skin take the place of smooth shading.
  • The bent body folds into one compact, rounded shape over the tub.
  • Blue in the tub and ochre on the floor are rubbed in roughly, so the paper's grain shows.
  • One of a set of nudes Degas showed at the 1886 Impressionist exhibition.

Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access · CC0

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