Woman Combing Her Hair in Front of a Mirror by Degas

This intimate and strikingly realistic work painted in oil by the artist Degas Edgar fits fully into the impressionist movement with its modern subject. The work temporarily titled “Woman Combing Her Hair in Front of a Mirror” enters the private space of the female toilette, one of the painter’s favorite themes. The artist moves away from idealized academic representations to capture a simple moment of daily life in all its corporal truth and vulnerability.

A young brunette woman wearing a white corset with elegant laced trim is represented in profile, fully absorbed in tending her long hair. She raises both of her arms to comb and gather her long black hair, her head being slightly tilted downwards in a contemplative pose. On the left, a vertical mirror dimly reflects her silhouette and her movements in the darkness of the private boudoir. A soft and targeted light comes from the right to delicately illuminate her milky skin, her raised arms and her bare shoulder. The dark and textured background reinforces the feeling of silent solitude and immersion in this cozy atmosphere.

The expertise of Edgar Degas is expressed here through a rapid and expressive pictorial touch which gives a vibrant texture to the material. The artist uses highly mastered chiaroscuro contrasts to sculpt the delicate shapes of the female body, translating the warmth of life with remarkable sensitivity.