The Millinery Shop by Degas

This oil painting on canvas created by the French artist Degas Edgar is fully part of the impressionist movement under the temporary title “The Millinery Shop”. This masterpiece illustrates modern Parisian life through an intimate daily scene captured on the spot in a milliner’s workshop. The work bears witness to the artist’s deep fascination with feminine fashion and the play of illusions.

In the center of the composition, a woman seen from behind and dressed in a dark green dress tries on an elegant off-white straw hat adorned with a black ribbon. She raises her two gloved hands to adjust her headpiece, her gesture faithfully reflected in a large rectangular mirror with a brown wooden frame placed on the left. This mirror reveals her face, which remains blurry and without distinct features, creating a mysterious double. On the right, the gloved hand and dark arm of a milliner emerge from the frame to present another brown hat. The soft green wall background bathes this scene in a quiet atmosphere.

The artist demonstrates his immense and unique expertise by playing with the concept of the double through the mirror’s reflection. His fluid brushwork and loose strokes translate with great delicacy the soft texture of the precious fabrics and the quietness of the shop interior.