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Woman Having Her Hair Combed

ca. 1886–88
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 817
No doubt Degas intended to include this work in the 1886 Impressionist exhibition among the nudes he described in the catalogue as "women bathing, washing themselves, combing their hair or having it combed," since it is his only pastel of the mid-1880s of a woman having her hair combed. Executed in large format and meticulously finished, this nude—reminiscent of Rembrandt’s famous Bathsheba at Her Bath in the Louvre—may not have been completed in time for the exhibition, or else it may have been excluded deliberately for reasons unknown.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Woman Having Her Hair Combed
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1886–88
  • Medium: Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
  • Dimensions: 29 1/8 x 23 7/8 in. (74 x 60.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.35
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

Audio

Cover Image for 6224. Woman Having Her Hair Combed

6224. Woman Having Her Hair Combed

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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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