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Bather Drying Herself

ca. 1892
Not on view
Edgar Degas greatly admired the female figure. Whereas his depictions of ballerinas focus on the elegant, performative body, his studies of women bathing show an equal appreciation for the uninhibited gestures of this private activity. In intimate, close-up portrayals, Degas depicted his models seated, crouched, or standing, often in contorted poses as they lifted arms and legs to wash or dry themselves. Chalk and pastels helped him capture the play of light and movement in these domestic choreographies. In this relatively abstract portrayal, he used white chalk to offset the color of the paper and to suggest the curvature of the woman’s back and arms.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bather Drying Herself
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1892
  • Medium: Charcoal and pastel, heightened with white chalk, on tracing paper (mounted on cardboard)
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 10 3/8 x 10 3/8 in. (26.4 x 26.4cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960
  • Object Number: 61.101.18
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, Edgar Degas French, Partially tinted bronze, cotton tarlatan, silk satin, and wood, French, Paris
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer
Edgar Degas
Founder Cast by A. A. Hébrard
modeled 1881, cast 1922, modern tutu
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Hail Mary (Ia Orana Maria), Paul Gauguin French, Fabricated charcoal, red chalk, and white pastel on formerly blue wove paper, mounted on millboard with strips of rose-colored wove paper along two edges
Hail Mary (Ia Orana Maria)
Paul Gauguin
ca. 1893–95
The Dance Class, Edgar Degas French, Oil on canvas
The Dance Class
Edgar Degas
1874
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

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