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Bather Drying Herself

ca. 1883–84
Not on view
Scenes of women bathing or drying themselves after a bath are a recurrent subject in Degas’s drawings and paintings. He depicted his models as if they were unaware of his presence, often from up close, imbuing these works with an erotic intimacy that verges on voyeurism. With their contorted poses, crouched down in a bathtub or leaning over to towel off their neck, back, or legs, Degas’s bathers serve as a pendant to his depictions of ballerinas, in which he focused on the elegant contours of the performing female body. Both offered opportunities to study the human form in movement and the play of light on the body, here emphasized by areas of dark shading in charcoal.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bather Drying Herself
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1883–84
  • Medium: Charcoal and pastel on off-white laid paper
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 12 5/8 x 9 3/4 in. (32.1 x 24.8cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1918
  • Object Number: 19.51.2
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Huit Sonnets. . .Illustré de dix-nuef dessins inédits de Edgar Degas
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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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