Woman Drying Herself - After the bath by Degas

Fitting elegantly into his famous series of nudes at their toilette, this masterly work by Degas Edgar, associated with the Impressionist movement, stands under the title of “Woman Drying Herself - After the bath” within his production. The artist abandons stage scenes to capture the anatomical truth of the simplest gestures of daily life. This composition bears witness to his constant research into natural attitudes and human expressions captured on the spot.

The bather is depicted seated in three-quarters back view in the center of the composition, leaning forward. Her left foot, visible in the lower left corner of the painting, is shod in a bright yellow slipper in the foreground. She holds a large white towel over her neck with her two hands raised and folded around her tilted head. To her right, a large yellow wicker armchair is covered with a large white drapery, placed next to a grey zinc bathtub. On the left of the painting, a pink curtain with floral patterns structures the background, while the floor is covered with a red and yellow carpet.

This work celebrates the artist’s unique and masterly craftsmanship through an incredibly virtuous pastel technique. The painter uses dense and vibrant hatching to sculpt forms and capture the vibration of light on the body with a striking and highly poignant realism.