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Woman with a Towel

1894 or 1898
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 817
Degas used his fingers, brushes, and sharp implements to smudge, scrape, and polish this pastel, creating a sense of movement and texture, and revealing layers of brilliant color. Black outlines drawn over the pastel emphasize the contrapposto turn of the muscular and monumental nude. The date Degas inscribed on the sheet has traditionally been read as 1894 but 1898 is more likely.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Woman with a Towel
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: 1894 or 1898
  • Medium: Pastel on cream-colored wove paper with red and blue fibers throughout
  • Dimensions: 37 3/4 x 30in. (95.9 x 76.2cm)
    Frame: 44 1/4 x 36 1/4 x 1 7/8 in. (112.4 x 92.1 x 4.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.37
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Huit Sonnets. . .Illustré de dix-nuef dessins inédits de Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Wittenborn and Co., La Jeune Parque
1946
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl, Edgar Degas French, Aquatint, drypoint, and etching; printed from canceled plate
Seated Woman in Bonnet and Shawl
Edgar Degas
ca. 1879
At the Café des Ambassadeurs, Edgar Degas French, Etching, softground, drypoint, and aquatint; fifth (final) state; canceled plate
At the Café des Ambassadeurs
Edgar Degas
1879–80
Greek Landscape, Edgar Degas French, Etching (only state; impression from cancelled plate)
Greek Landscape
Edgar Degas
1856
On Stage III, Edgar Degas French, Softground etching,drypoint, and roulette on wove paper; fourth state of five
On Stage III
Edgar Degas
1876–77

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