After a Bath, Reclining Nude by Degas

This intimate work is part of the remarkable series of pastels dedicated to the female nude late in the artist’s career. The peerless draftsman Degas Edgar executes with “After a Bath, Reclining Nude” an innovative composition that definitively breaks with idealized and theatrical representations of women. The movement here strives to capture the natural sensuality of a body in the quiet intimacy of its private daily life.

An entirely nude woman is depicted lying on her back or on a chaise longue covered with fabrics in warm and golden tones. Her body stretched with abandon draws a harmonious sinuous line, her legs slightly bent and her arm resting under her head. The chromatic palette skillfully blends the flesh tones of the skin with vibrant tones of orange, yellow and red in the background. The soft, dim light caresses the curves of the model, sculpting volumes with almost sculptural power and great realism. The high-angle, oblique framing accentuates the feeling of proximity and the preserved secret of the bath.

The pastel technique is pushed to its highest degree of mastery with vigorous and vibrant hatching. The artist uses superpositions of colors to create a rich texture that gives the body an exceptional physical and sensual presence, which remains completely unique and highly modern for his time.