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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
A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), Edgar Degas French, Oil on canvas
A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?)
Edgar Degas
1865
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Cleveland Johnson, Violet Oakley American, Charcoal, white chalk, and pastel on brown laid paper, American
Cleveland Johnson
Violet Oakley
Woman Having Her Hair Combed, Edgar Degas French, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
Woman Having Her Hair Combed
Edgar Degas
ca. 1886–88
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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