After the Bath - Woman Drying Herself by Degas

This revolutionary painting is one of the most emblematic nude studies of the late nineteenth century in Western Europe. The avant-garde artist Degas Edgar reinvents the intimate toilette with “After the Bath - Woman Drying Herself”, definitively freeing himself from the traditional male voyeuristic gaze to focus on the truth of daily gestures. This work represents the culmination of his research on form, natural movement and the closed space of the shower room.

An entirely nude woman, seen from behind, is crouching inside a large copper basin or shallow round bathtub placed on the floor. She is captured in a bold asymmetrical twisting posture, leaning forward to dry her neck or her right arm with a white towel. The foreground is dominated by the metallic reflections of the basin and the contrast with the yellow-toned wooden floor. The background consists of a flamboyant and vibrant orange-red wall that warms the entire atmosphere of the intimate room. The bright light strikes the curved back of the model, highlighting the spine and the softness of her skin with striking realism.

The virtuosity of the pastel is expressed in the use of rapid cross-hatching and delicate blending to model the forms of the female body. The artist thus succeeds in capturing the raw anatomical truth while breathing a timeless visual poetry and an extremely modern feel to the chosen motif.