Woman in a Tub by Degas

This bold representation is part of the innovative series of nudes that revolutionized art in the late nineteenth century in France. The realist painter Degas Edgar offers with “Woman in a Tub” an uncompromising and modern vision of the daily hygiene of women of his time. By departing from academic canons, the work strives to capture nudity in its natural simplicity and in its intimate truth without idealization.

A nude woman is seen from above, crouching on the ground, her body arched as she washes herself in a small flat circular metal basin. Her silhouette stands out against a deep blue carpet spotted with yellow and green, which forms a colorful and rhythmic background. Next to the basin, we can distinguish some toilet objects like a sponge and a comb placed on a light wood furniture piece. The soft light envelops the woman’s back and loins, sculpting the volumes of her flesh with extraordinary realism. The diagonal composition accentuates the effect of surprise and the voyeuristic character of the intimate scene.

The exceptional mastery of pastel makes it possible to render the satin texture of the skin and the roughness of the surrounding fabrics. Thanks to dense and superimposed hatching, the artist models forms with a quite remarkable sculptural power and a great modernity.